For a farmers market to be successful, there has to be consistency, said Tim Forren, board president of the West Side Farmers Market. Finding vendors — like Terry Hudson (left) of Hudson Farms in Big Chimney — who commit to the market weekly is important, Forren said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When Tim Forren cracks open a chicken egg, he wants to see a golden yolk, not what he calls the wimpy, yellow color he sees in store-bought eggs.
That’s why Forren said he enjoys eating eggs from free-range chickens. He found some from a Roane County vendor at last weekend’s opening of the West Side Farmers Market in Charleston, said Forren, board president of the West Side Farmers Market.
The market on the corner of Washington and Beatrice streets in Charleston is one of nearly 80 farmers markets in the state — a number that has tripled in the last 10 years, said Larry Lower, president of the West Virginia Farmers Market Association.
About one-third of the markets in the state are no more than three years old, Lower said.
Farmers markets are also growing nationally, There were 7,175 farmers market in the U.S. in 2011 compared to 6,132 in 2010, a 17 percent increase, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 1994, when the USDA began publishing the National Directory of Farmers there were only 1,755 markets listed.
“Ultimately I think people like markets because they can talk to the farmer, know if they use chemicals and put a face to their source of local fresh food,” said Lower, president of the Berkeley Springs Farmers Market. “With this whole green movement, people wanted healthy food by supporting local communities so people jumped on the bandwagon.”
He believes West Virginians do want to eat healthy, despite the state’s ranking as the second-most obese state in the nation, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly one of out every three state resident is obese, according to the CDC.
“We have a need for farmers markets because people are really trying to learn how to eat healthy. The way to eat healthy, naturally, is fruits and vegetables,” said Forren, who owns Forren Soil on Charleston’s West Side. “If we can educate people to eat healthy, maybe we can lose a little weight. People are realizing that they can eat healthy and they like the idea of doing it with farmers in the state.”
The local food movement reflects an increasing interest by consumers in supporting local farmers and in better understanding the origin of their food, according to Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues, a report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service.
Buying food at farmers markets cuts out the “middle man, which keeps the dollars circulating in the community,” Lower said. Transportation costs and packaging are also reduced.
The environmental movement encourages people to consider geographic dimensions in their food choices, the ERS report stated. Enhancing access to safe, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for all consumers is the goal of the community food-security movement, according to the ERS report.
“Over the past 10 years, there have been a lot of food scares because of contamination and agricultural activities when they ship across the U.S.,” Lower said. “What happens when something is contaminated in California and it is suddenly shipped all across the U.S. has caused a lot of people to be concerned about where their food comes from.”
That’s why the WVFMA, in partnership with the West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition and the WV Community Development Hub, is launching a pilot program to all farmers markets in the state. The two-year program will provide training and networking opportunities as well as business planning support to 10 selected markets, Lower said. Market managers will work with the 10 chosen markets to find out what is and isn’t working, he said.
The program is free for the farmers markets thanks to an $80,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
“We need to find a more substantial way for communities who want to set up markets to improve their methods. That’s why we started this program,” Lower said. “The ultimate goal is to support and enhance the local food production and marketing in West Virginia.”
All farmers markets are different, he said. Some, like the West Side Farmers Market, feature numerous canopies spread across a parking lot where farmers sell their fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats, cheeses and salsas. The “luxury markets,” as Lower called them, have buildings so that people can buy local even when weather conditions are harsh (like Charleston’s Capitol Market).
Whatever the size of the market, the goal of the program is to understand how the community has organized around making the market successful, said Savannah Lyons, one of nine WVFMA board of directors members.
“We designed this program to look at the spread of different levels of development that markets have; from the small tailgate markets to the larger city markets that shut down a city block,” Lyons said.
The program will also create economic opportunities for farmers and vendors, she said.
“People think of farmers markets as not being serious business enterprises because they’re often community driven — and they don’t run themselves as a business — but they have the potential to serve as business incubators, and they do,” Lyons said.
The deadline to apply for the program is May 10. To find out more information about the market program or to learn more about farmers markets in the state, call Lower at 304-258-3815 or visitwww.wvfarmers.org. The 10 selected farmers markets will be announced later this month.
To find a farmers market near you, visit http://search.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/
Reach Megan Workman at megan.work…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113
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February 26, 2012
West Side losing an accomplished leader
Chris Dorst
Patricia McGill, standing at the corner of Tennessee Avenue and Washington Street West, is retiring after four years as director of the West Side Main Street program.
By Lori Kersey
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After four years of revitalization work on Charleston’s West Side, Patricia McGill is retiring. Wednesday will be the last day of work for McGill, the executive director of West Side Main Street.
Jenny Fertig, program leader for Community and Economic Development at the West Virginia State University Extension Office, which oversees WSMS, said McGill has been an asset to the program.
“Her administrative expertise was invaluable in getting this new organization structured and operating in a sound manner,” Fertig said. “Her personal passion for the revitalization of the West Side has translated into WSMS projects that are making visible and important contributions to the community-led revitalization.”
West Side Main Street can boast of a long list of achievements from the past few years, McGill said.
“I think probably the biggest accomplishments are getting new businesses to relocate to the West Side,” McGill said.
“This has been a deteriorated and blighted area for a number of years. We’re starting to be able to recruit businesses and 20 new businesses have relocated to the West Side in the past three years.”
McGill said she’s also proud of the two public art projects the program completed. One art project was a tile mural in the 1500 block of Washington Street West. Community residents and a professional artist painted the 700 small tiles in the mural.
The other was the Peer to Pier project, in which local artists, as a part of FestivALL, painted some of the columns that support the interstate at Washington Street West and Pennsylvania Avenue.
A native of Charleston, McGill said she’s lived away from the area, but always finds her way back.
“I keep coming back,” she said. “I think I’m going to stay here now that I’m retiring. I love it here.”
A West Side resident, McGill said she wanted to be a part of the Main Street program because she had always enjoyed community development.
“It’s something that’s a local investment,” McGill said. “It’s community-driven.”
The organization has nearly 200 volunteers working on various projects and events throughout the year.
While the West Side has come a long way, there’s still plenty more to do, McGill said.
The Main Street program works in increments, she said. It’s a slow pace that’s often discouraging for people, she said.
The nonprofit has a five-year plan for a streetscape project. Next on the list is the middle section of Washington Street, from Beatrice Street to Maryland Avenue. The streetscape plan depends on federal funding, which is often difficult to come by these days, she said.
West Side Main Street is also working with the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members to put a dog park in one of CURA’s vacant lots. It is also working to put a farmers market in a vacant lot at Beatrice and Washington. WSMS did a pilot project last year for the farmers market. This year the program received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the farmers market.
Fertig said the extension office has worked with the WSMS board to finalize a job description and they plan to post the position by mid-March. Those interested in applying will be able to find the posting at www.westsidemainstreet.org.
“I hope people continue to support the organization,” McGill said. “What they’re doing is really important and the revitalization of the West Side is an important activity. I hope people will stay energized in it. I think we’ve made really good progress and I’d like to see that continue.”
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.ker…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
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By Kevin Howell, Assistant News Director – email
CHARLESTON -
The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is out with 2012 Endangered Properties list. It’s the group’s annual clemency plea for buildings they believe are important, and worthy of being saved from the wrecking ball.
On Charleston’s west side, the Alliance is focusing on the old Staats Hospital building, designed by the first registered black architect in the state.
It’s got asbestos problems, and is slated for demolition. That’s not uncommon for the kinds of buildings the Alliance tries to save because of their historic significance.
“Well, we need to preserve our history,” said Pat McGill, with West Side Main Street. “Its really important that future generations have the chance to see what happened before them. This is a beautiful old building has a lot of history has a lot of history on the west side.”
Other items on the 2012 list include:
•Old Clay County Courthouse, Clay County
•Arthurdale School Buildings, Preston County
•Northern Railroad Water Tower, Preston County
•Ft. McCoy, Greenbrier County
•Lynnside Manor, Monroe County
•Old First Baptist Church, Monroe County
•Fayette Feed and Fertilizer, Fayette County
•William and Mary Queen Store, Wayne County
•General Albert Gallatin Jenkins House and Plantation, Cabell County
•East Wheeling Historic District, Ohio County
Despite their efforts, two of the buildings on last year’s Endangered Properties list have been demolished.
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January 23, 2012
By Staff reports
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Buy local. Eat local. Shop local — really local.
That was the message Monday as Charleston’s two Main Street organizations kicked off a campaign aimed at supporting locally owned businesses and keeping dollars in the local economy.
According to a news release from East End Main Street and West Side Main Street, dollars spent in local businesses go twice as far as those spent in chain stores. “A locally owned business returns approximately 80 percent of each dollar spent back to the community, while a chain store returns only 40 percent back in the form of taxes and employee wages.”
Delegate Meshea Poore, D-Kanawha, an East End Main Street board member, gave state legislators brochures listing businesses in the East End and West Side they might need while in town — like dry cleaners, restaurants, etc.
“The district has many unique and wonderful businesses that may not be known to some of my legislative colleagues and this is a great way to inform them of the places they can dine, shop and be entertained,” Poore said in a prepared statement.
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Fate of West Side landmark in doubt
By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Call it the ultimate fixer-upper: 47,000 square feet, more or less, on four floors — not counting the morgue in the basement.
That’s the former Staats Hospital, the plum of the Elk City Historic District.
Larry Kopelman and his Genesis Capital partner, Charles F. Schoen, probably would give you a good deal on the building. They hold a deed of trust on the property, which is tied up in bankruptcy court after the previous owner, Dr. Adla Adi of St. Francis West Properties, defaulted on his loan from Genesis, Kopelman said.
There’s a catch, though — probably several of them.
“It’s an old building that needs complete remodeling,” Kopelman said. “You’ve got old-building issues. Heating and cooling needs to be totally replaced.”
Not to mention the leaky roof, the asbestos and lead paint, the broken elevators, shattered plaster, pigeon poop and the trash — mountains of trash.
Kevin Mullins gave some visitors a first-hand look on a recent guided tour. A computer network engineer by day and vocalist for the Esquires band by night, Mullins has been helping fellow band member Kopelman clean up the property and show it to potential developers.
Although the brick exterior of the Staats building has held up over the years, the interior is a different story. The place hasn’t changed much since Adi closed his office doors and moved to Florida, more than a year ago.
“He only used the first floor,” Mullins said. “The second, third and fourth floors haven’t been used since the 1970s.
“The basement isn’t really usable. That’s where the old autopsy room is.” The operating table is still there, he said.
Built in 1922 by the Staats brothers, the structure once was the commercial heart of the Elk City neighborhood on West Washington Street, just across the Elk River. It housed the 625-seat Grand Theater, the first movie venue on the West Side, plus an A&P grocery store and Kelley’s Department Store.
Historians say it was designed by John Norman, one of West Virginia’s first black licensed architects.
Staats Hospital occupied the second and third floors as late as 1982, according to one newspaper account, while the fourth floor was home to the Glendale Lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
Saint Francis Hospital bought the property, then sold it to Adi, who operated the Saint Francis West HealthCare clinic.
By all appearances, Adi focused his energy on operating the first-floor clinic, and used the upper floors as a repository for unwanted or unneeded materials. In 2003, he announced plans to tear the building down and build a new clinic in the rear. He never followed through.
The first floor is in relatively good condition, but the rest of building has deteriorated badly over the years. Bits of broken plaster, flakes of paint, old furniture, office supplies and random scraps of paper cover the floor in the maze of rooms on the second and third floors.
On the fourth floor, Mullins warned to steer clear of one room dotted with pigeon droppings, and to avoid the hole where rain from the leaking roof has rotted through the wooden floor.
He entered what once was the building’s showpiece, the lodge hall — except most of the vaulted ceiling has fallen, exposing the joists above. “You can still see the lodge insignia here, and here,” he said, pointing at the two end walls. “I think this was the original Knights of Pythias lodge hall.”
Lately, though, it’s been a garbage dump. “This was waist deep in trash,” he said.
Mullins has spent months cleaning up, trying to make the place more attractive for developers.
Kopelman hopes to get back at least some of the money he loaned Adi. Ownership is still tied up in bankruptcy court, he said.
“Genesis Capital has not decided what to do,” Kopelman said, but he and his partner don’t want to own the building. “We’ve got some effort in place in trying to find someone.”
That’s where Pat McGill comes in. As director of the West Side Main Street program, she’s been trying to save the building since 2010, when she heard Adi was planning to retire.
With Kopelman’s blessing, she’s been hunting for grant money and, in December, learned she’d won a $5,000 brownfields grant.
The Staats building was one of eight projects, and the first ever from Kanawha County, to win a grant through the FOCUS WV Program at the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center in Morgantown. A second center, at Marshall University, serves Southern West Virginia.
Under federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, the building qualifies as a brownfield because of its suspected asbestos and lead paint problems.
“We hope to do a Phase I assessment, a feasibility study to find out what could the property potentially be used for,” McGill said. “We’ve not had a lot of success finding a developer because of the unknowns for the environmental issues.
“The second step would be to apply for a $20,000 [State Historic Preservation Office] grant. You can use the money to hire consultants to look at potential uses or hire architects or engineers.”
The EPA definition of a brownfield is kind of broad, said Luke Elsor, project manager at the Morgantown center: “Any real property that is contaminated or perceived to be contaminated.”
That includes land, like old gas stations and apple orchards where pesticides were used. “They specifically included post surface-mining properties, which is important for West Virginia.” It includes structures, all sorts of factories and chemical plants, and any building where lead paint, asbestos floor tiles and/or asbestos insulation might have been used.
“That perception opens up a lot,” Elsor said. “A site is not going to be redeveloped because there’s a feeling it’s contaminated.” Developers shy away because of the uncertainty, he said.
“For all we know, the Staats Hospital is perfectly safe and clean, or it may be easily addressed.”
The project also would qualify for a $12,000 Stage II site design and project implementation grant, he said.
“The goal is market research. That can take the form of architectural studies, market analysis or site planning — trying to find the different pieces to the puzzle,” Elsor said. “Typically, a brownfield redevelopment project can take up to 14 investment partners.
“Nobody wants to see a space sitting empty. It’s a great opportunity to get a lot of people involved.”
Kopelman is ready to step in. “I hope that grant will create a concept for what to do with the building,” he said. “We would, if a group came forward, would finance. That’s what we do.
“We’re looking for anyone, either West Side Main Street as a conduit or a catalyst, or an independent third party. We’re willing to cooperate.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
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As Washington Street rubberneckers have no doubt noticed, local artists are nearing completion of the “Peer to Pier” murals under the I-64 interstate bridge.
Artists have until September to complete designs but many seem poised to beat that deadline by more than a month.
Barrie Kaufman is almost finished with her Native American-inspired mural, “A Good Place to Plant Corn.”
“I wanted to do something Native American. I wanted bright colors and I wanted a female,” Kaufman, an art teacher at Mountaineer Montessori School in Kanawha City, said.
Her design features a woman in flowing Native American garb, her feet in the Kanawha River, with stalks of corn surrounding her on all sides.
“She’s probably a combination of a bunch of different kinds of tribes,” Kaufman said of her eight-foot-tall woman.
While she’s done most of the painting alone, Kaufman also has enlisted the help of her young art students.
Brothers Jonathan Harris, 4, Nicholas, 10, and Blake, 8, along with their friend T.J. Salango, 9, helped Kaufman sling paint Wednesday afternoon. Kaufman’s friend Nancy Johnson also helped out.
“It’s fun to sit here and people drive by and give us the thumbs up,” Johnson said.
She said she’s also seen several car accidents during her time under the bridge. Kaufman said the murals are turning driver’s heads, but haven’t caused any wrecks.
“My funniest story is, this guy drove up with a car full of paint and asked me to paint his bumper. I said no,” Kaufman said.
The project started as part of the city’s FestivALL activities, sponsored by the city’s Strong Neighborhoods Task Force.
Lori Brannon, a neighborhood planner with Charleston’s Planning Department and project manager for the pier project, said she’s only heard positive responses to the murals.
“The artists have all told me people are stopping by, giving them great comments, that they’d like to see more of it,” she said.
The city is interested in sponsoring more murals if funding is available, Brannon said.
Artists submitted proposals in March and a selection committee picked the designs in April. The committee chose 10 designs to cover the 10 interstate piers along Washington Street.
Charleston artist Charles Hamilton just started his column last week but hopes to have it finished by the end of next week.
http://www.dailymail.com/Entertainment/201107211505?build=yes
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June 20, 2011
Artists begin I-64 murals
Chris Dorst
With the help of Marshall University senior art major Brianna Mullins (center), Charleston artist Bernice Deakins has a head start on her historical mural — part of the FestivALL-sponsored Peer to Pier Mural Project along Washington Street beneath the Interstate 64 overpass. Rob Cleland works on his layout at right.
If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
Chris Dorst
Christopher Nelson could use another hand as he applies blue masking tape to his pier from a lofty perch atop a scaffold. A jury picked 10 artists to paint murals on the piers — five on each side of Washington Street.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
“I did three designs,” Hamilton said Monday morning at an organizational meeting for the FestivALL Peer to Pier Mural Project.
“They requested historical themes. I did the marijuana plane crashing, with smoke billowing up in the air. I was going to put demons in the smoke, people gathering the marijuana, and marshals running after the people.”
Alas, judges rejected Hamilton’s vision of the infamous June 1979 pot plane crash, in which a DC-6 rolled off the end of a Kanawha (Yeager) Airport runway when its brakes failed, spilling 10 tons of baled marijuana over the hillside and creating a bonanza for bag-toting pot scavengers the following night.
“It was like, ‘I don’t think so,’” Hamilton said of the judges. They also vetoed his image of the Funeral Parade, once a mainstay of the defunct Sternwheel Regatta.
So Hamilton will be painting what should be a safe scene — a Kanawha riverscape with a boat, a train and downtown buildings in the background. If you look closely, he might even include a tiny Funeral Parade, he said.
Peer to Pier organizers gave Hamilton a prime site for his mural — the first pier on the right as you drive under the Interstate toward the West Side. The 10 selected artists checked their pier assignments, along with other details about the project, on Monday.
Though billed as a FestivALL event, the murals do not have to be finished until this fall, FestivALL public arts coordinator Naomi Bays said. West Side Main Street, one of the project sponsors, will dedicate the murals during the group’s annual Octoberfest, she said.
Still, FestivALL-goers who stop by the site are likely to see activity at work this week. Many of the artists began mapping out their work on Monday.
Rob Cleland, a veteran of several public art projects, was already up on his scaffold as the meeting was breaking up, figuring out how to transfer his design to the 4-foot-wide cylindrical column.
“I’ll project it onto newsprint and use a pounce wheel — like a pizza cutter with points.” The wheel will punch small holes in the newsprint as he traces the outline of his design. After attaching the newsprint to the column, “I’ll use a chalk bag. Where the penetrations are, it puts the design on the pier.”
Ian Bode plans to use another system. “I’m going to do the grid, like you see in children’s magazines. I do kind of a comic style. Someone told me it’s like Keith Haring, with a bit of narrative.
“Mine will be on the history of music in West Virginia, starting with bluegrass music — the slaves bring African music, the banjo, mixing with the Irish settlers, and going through Mountain Stage.
“I’m trying to stay away from typical West Virginia history,” Bode said. “It’s interesting. None of the artists did coal, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
One of the challenges of the pier project is the shape of the piers, several artists said. “You can’t project onto a cylinder,” Cleland said. “It distorts.”
Jeff Pierson, picked for a pier facing the southbound lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue, said traffic signs partially obscure his site. “I was driving by yesterday. So I have to decide where to put my main design.”
Cleland hopes to start painting in a couple of days. “I’ve got my top three pieces projected already. It will be a party … spectacle.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
“I did three designs,” Hamilton said Monday morning at an organizational meeting for the FestivALL Peer to Pier Mural Project.
“They requested historical themes. I did the marijuana plane crashing, with smoke billowing up in the air. I was going to put demons in the smoke, people gathering the marijuana, and marshals running after the people.”
Alas, judges rejected Hamilton’s vision of the infamous June 1979 pot plane crash, in which a DC-6 rolled off the end of a Kanawha (Yeager) Airport runway when its brakes failed, spilling 10 tons of baled marijuana over the hillside and creating a bonanza for bag-toting pot scavengers the following night.
“It was like, ‘I don’t think so,’” Hamilton said of the judges. They also vetoed his image of the Funeral Parade, once a mainstay of the defunct Sternwheel Regatta.
So Hamilton will be painting what should be a safe scene — a Kanawha riverscape with a boat, a train and downtown buildings in the background. If you look closely, he might even include a tiny Funeral Parade, he said.
Peer to Pier organizers gave Hamilton a prime site for his mural — the first pier on the right as you drive under the Interstate toward the West Side. The 10 selected artists checked their pier assignments, along with other details about the project, on Monday.
Though billed as a FestivALL event, the murals do not have to be finished until this fall, FestivALL public arts coordinator Naomi Bays said. West Side Main Street, one of the project sponsors, will dedicate the murals during the group’s annual Octoberfest, she said.
Still, FestivALL-goers who stop by the site are likely to see activity at work this week. Many of the artists began mapping out their work on Monday.
Rob Cleland, a veteran of several public art projects, was already up on his scaffold as the meeting was breaking up, figuring out how to transfer his design to the 4-foot-wide cylindrical column.
“I’ll project it onto newsprint and use a pounce wheel — like a pizza cutter with points.” The wheel will punch small holes in the newsprint as he traces the outline of his design. After attaching the newsprint to the column, “I’ll use a chalk bag. Where the penetrations are, it puts the design on the pier.”
Ian Bode plans to use another system. “I’m going to do the grid, like you see in children’s magazines. I do kind of a comic style. Someone told me it’s like Keith Haring, with a bit of narrative.
“Mine will be on the history of music in West Virginia, starting with bluegrass music — the slaves bring African music, the banjo, mixing with the Irish settlers, and going through Mountain Stage.
“I’m trying to stay away from typical West Virginia history,” Bode said. “It’s interesting. None of the artists did coal, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
One of the challenges of the pier project is the shape of the piers, several artists said. “You can’t project onto a cylinder,” Cleland said. “It distorts.”
Jeff Pierson, picked for a pier facing the southbound lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue, said traffic signs partially obscure his site. “I was driving by yesterday. So I have to decide where to put my main design.”
Cleland hopes to start painting in a couple of days. “I’ve got my top three pieces projected already. It will be a party … spectacle.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
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Craig Cunningham
Karen Shearer’s 9-year-old dachshund, Kasey, has won the Adult Division II category of the FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race for the past three years. Shearer uses a balloon to motivate Kasey to run her fastest.
A dynasty will end Saturday at the fifth annual FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race.
For the past three years, Kasey, a 9-year-old dachshund, has carried the title as fastest wiener in the category for dogs 5 to 9 years old.
The domination that Kasey and her owner, Karen Shearer, have enjoyed ends this year because the speedy wiener’s owner has to work on race day.
“Even if you don’t race, it’s so much fun and it’s for a great cause to raise money for the animals, but I really hate that I can’t attend this year. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year to keep the tradition going with her,” Shearer said.
All of the proceeds from Saturday’s race go to the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter.
The race has grown from 60 dogs registered in the first year to almost 100 dogs last year. This year, wiener dogs from as far away as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida are expected to show up.
Libby Ballard, the race coordinator, said the first few rounds of competition weed out the lollygagging wieners. The dedicated runners get more and more competitive until the finals.
The level of competitive spirit has grown along with Kasey’s persistent legacy.
“I’m sure everyone is out to get Kasey,” Ballard said.
The West Side race isn’t the only track Kasey’s little legs have sprinted over. After her 2009 victory, Shearer put Kasey to the test against the champion of the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival’s own wiener dog race in Huntington.
Needless to say, Kasey came out as the top dog that day.
“I was so proud of her. She’s fast,” Shearer said.
Despite her continuous success on the wiener racing circuit, Kasey doesn’t get any more exercise than the average dog. In her first year, Shearer would take the dog to Joplin Park in South Charleston for a couple of practice runs, but ever since then she’s known the drill on race day.
Shearer says the secret is finding the dog’s weak spot. For Kasey, seeing a balloon at the finish line was en “When they let her go, she just takes off,” Shearer said.
Owners are allowed to bringing a favorite toy or treat, but Ballard says anything that counts as “food food” can’t be used as a doggy motivator.
Motivators aside, nothing comes between some of the wiener dogs and their desire to greet each other in the traditional snout-to-bottom manner mid-race.
Ballard says the races get faster as the number of competitors drops by elimination.
“What you will notice is in the very first race some will just stop or come back to the starting point and one or two will really dash to the finish line. But as they get eliminated, they finish by a nose,” she said.
Kasey has never participated in the costume competition, although Shearer says she sometimes dresses her up as Wiener Claus on Christmas.
The judges for this year’s costume contest will be Jessica Ralston from WSAZ-TV along with Steve Bishop and Jenny Murray from V-100 radio.
In the past, dogs have been dressed in a wide range of get-ups, posing as spaghetti and meatballs, lobsters and racecar drivers.
Thanks to the recent scandal surrounding New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, Ballard says she’ll be on the lookout for the West Side’s own Rep. Wiener — as long as it’s in good taste, of course.
“If we saw something in bad taste, we would stop it, but I don’t think anything like that has happened before,” she said.
The fifth annual FestivAll Charleston West Side Wiener Dog Race will be at Stonewall Jackson Middle School on Saturday, with registration starting at 10:30 a.m. A registration fee of $20 will be charged for all dogs registered on race day.
For now, Kasey, the defending Adult Division II champion, will have to cool her jets until next year’s race, when she’ll be another year older and thus bumped up to the Senior Division to compete against dogs who are 9 or older.
“We’ll be back next year to hopefully continue her winning tradition,” Shearer said.
Contact writer Amber Marra at amber.ma…@dailymail.com or 304-348-4843.
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Thursday June 2, 2011
Board grants West Side funding
Similar main street project for East End told to revise request
by Paul Fallon
Daily Mail Staff
Charleston Daily Mail
Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members granted more than $150,000 to one local main street organization but told a representative with another to come back later with a refined request.
Board members approved a $154,940 funding request to help revitalize the city’s West Side during a meeting Wednesday.
The funds will be used in conjunction with $774,699 in Federal Highway Administration money that West Side Main Street officials are currently seeking, said Pat McGill, executive director of West Side Main Street.
The federal dollars have not yet been approved, she said.
Board members allocated the money pending approval of the federal grant, McGill said. She believes the federal funds will be awarded sometime this fall.
The money, if allocated, would be used to help fund a streetscape project along Washington Street West.
“We’re really happy to get the money from CURA,” McGill said. “This will help support our West Side revitalization plan.”
The funds will help pave sidewalks and relocate utilities from West Avenue to Georgia Street. The streetscape project would include the area surrounding Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
Currently West Side Main Street is working to secure federal funding for another portion of the streetscape project. The organization has requested $529,669 to help renovate sidewalks from Hunt Avenue to West Avenue.
The board previously approved a $132,417 match for this portion of the project, McGill said.
Phase I of the project will run along Washington Street West from Beatrice Street to Hunt Avenue. This portion of the project is currently under way, McGill said.
“We’re hoping to have this done by fall,” she said.
Although West Side Main Street’s request was approved, East End Main Street representatives were told to revise their funding request.
Ric Cavender, executive director of East End Main Street, requested around $50,000 over two fiscal years for various projects.
Those projects would include development of business recruitment and organizational guides. The money would also have helped continue the façade and sign grant programs.
He also requested funds to continue the East End Wi-Fi project through the next fiscal year. The Wi-Fi project provides free wireless Internet service in the Washington Street East business district.
But board members had questions as to whether those projects fall under the agency’s mission.
Board member Karen Haddad said the renewal authority is set up to deal with slum and blighted property. She asked Cavender how projects such as creating a business recruitment and organizational guide would help eliminate blighted properties on the East End.
“I see the façade program as falling under our mission, but not the (business recruitment and organizational) guide,” Haddad said.
Cavender said the guide could help fill vacant buildings in the East End, thus eliminating blighted properties.
Haddad said she wouldn’t approve funding requests for two fiscal years.
Board Chairman Jack Cavender asked Ric Cavender to refine his funding requests and return to the renewal authority at a later date. The two are not related.
“We’ll keep working with them,” Ric Cavender said. “CURA has been a strong partner with us, and we’re confident that they will continue to be a strong partner.”
Cavender said his next funding request would be for the upcoming fiscal year only.
Board members also approved their fiscal year 2011-2012 budget. The $307,718 budget increased by $20,062 over the current fiscal year.
The payroll line item for the upcoming fiscal year was reduced by $22,000 because an administrative assistant position was left vacant after an employee retired. Executive Director Jim Edwards suggested that the money be used to create a website for the authority.
“We’ll be able to do our work with two full-time employees and one part-time,” Edwards said.
The approximately $22,000 should be adequate to create and maintain the website as well as design new letterhead for the agency, Edwards said.
The budget passed unanimously.
Contact writer Paul Fallon at paul.fal…@dailymail.com or 304-348-4817.
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June 1, 2011
CURA working on new image
By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority has its first new director in almost 30 years. Now Jim Edwards, on the job less than a month, plans to freshen CURA’s image.
Board members approved a new budget Wednesday that includes money for a website to help market the various buildings and vacant lots CURA has acquired over the years. And they’re considering a move to more visible office space.
“I think the agency’s appearance to the public has been the same for some time,” said Edwards, who drew up the $317,718 administrative budget for 2011-12 — about $20,000 more than the current budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Besides a website — something CURA has never had — Edwards plans to take bids from public relations firms to develop an image campaign for the agency, including a new logo.
“It makes sense to do something new … to let the public know what the goals of the organization are,” he said. “It’s time for a new look.”
The budget also sets aside more money for rent, noting that the lease on CURA’s office suite in the Morrison Building on Quarrier Street expires in January 2012.
Board member Lew Tyree asked if Edwards might move the offices. “I bring that up because it seems like we’re stuck at the back of the second floor here.”
Edwards said a storefront location might be better. “I’m going to speak to each of the board members. I think there’s some logic for an agency that meets with developers to be in a more visible site. No decisions have been made. It’s time to evaluate.”
In other business Wednesday, CURA board members approved a 20 percent match to a possible federal grant to continue streetscape work on West Washington Street. But they asked East End Main Street program director Ric Cavender for more data to support his request for $50,000 in funding.
Pat McGill, director of the West Side Main Street program, said she decided to seek some of the $422 million in discretionary grant money the Federal Highway Administration recently made available. Phase III of the streetscape, from West Avenue to Georgia Street, will cost an estimated $774,699, she said — $317,000 to move utility lines, the rest for construction. CURA’s share would be $154,940.
The project includes new concrete sidewalks and curbs, six ADA ramps, brick crosswalks, benches and lampposts.
Board members, especially Karen Farmer, had a number of questions about Cavender’s request for $50,000 to help cover program costs during the next two years as East End Main Street transitions out from the umbrella of the Charleston Area Alliance, where it began, to an independent nonprofit agency.
Cavender asked for $15,000 for the fourth cycle of the facade grant program, $15,000 for operating costs of the East End WiFi network, $5,000 to help publish a business recruitment guide, $10,000 for a parking wayfinding project and $5,000 to support streetscape and public art initiatives.
“What do you think the mission of this board is?” Farmer asked Cavender. “Do you think a business recruitment guide is part of the mission?”
Cavender said he met with Edwards to make sure his funding requests lined up with specific goals of the East End Community Renewal Plan, which CURA administers. His six-page proposal report cited excerpts from the CURA plan.
Farmer was not convinced. She said she would not support funding for the recruitment guide.
“I see where the facade grant fits,” she said. “It has an infrastructure feel. The WiFi, it’s kind of an iffy area. I’ll leave that to the other commissioners. As to asking for two years up front, I cannot say I’d be for that.”
CURA Chairman Jack Cavender (no relation) asked Ric Cavender to return with more detailed cost information on his funding request.
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority has its first new director in almost 30 years. Now Jim Edwards, on the job less than a month, plans to freshen CURA’s image.
Board members approved a new budget Wednesday that includes money for a website to help market the various buildings and vacant lots CURA has acquired over the years. And they’re considering a move to more visible office space.
“I think the agency’s appearance to the public has been the same for some time,” said Edwards, who drew up the $317,718 administrative budget for 2011-12 — about $20,000 more than the current budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Besides a website — something CURA has never had — Edwards plans to take bids from public relations firms to develop an image campaign for the agency, including a new logo.
“It makes sense to do something new … to let the public know what the goals of the organization are,” he said. “It’s time for a new look.”
The budget also sets aside more money for rent, noting that the lease on CURA’s office suite in the Morrison Building on Quarrier Street expires in January 2012.
Board member Lew Tyree asked if Edwards might move the offices. “I bring that up because it seems like we’re stuck at the back of the second floor here.”
Edwards said a storefront location might be better. “I’m going to speak to each of the board members. I think there’s some logic for an agency that meets with developers to be in a more visible site. No decisions have been made. It’s time to evaluate.”
In other business Wednesday, CURA board members approved a 20 percent match to a possible federal grant to continue streetscape work on West Washington Street. But they asked East End Main Street program director Ric Cavender for more data to support his request for $50,000 in funding.
Pat McGill, director of the West Side Main Street program, said she decided to seek some of the $422 million in discretionary grant money the Federal Highway Administration recently made available. Phase III of the streetscape, from West Avenue to Georgia Street, will cost an estimated $774,699, she said — $317,000 to move utility lines, the rest for construction. CURA’s share would be $154,940.
The project includes new concrete sidewalks and curbs, six ADA ramps, brick crosswalks, benches and lampposts.
Board members, especially Karen Farmer, had a number of questions about Cavender’s request for $50,000 to help cover program costs during the next two years as East End Main Street transitions out from the umbrella of the Charleston Area Alliance, where it began, to an independent nonprofit agency.
Cavender asked for $15,000 for the fourth cycle of the facade grant program, $15,000 for operating costs of the East End WiFi network, $5,000 to help publish a business recruitment guide, $10,000 for a parking wayfinding project and $5,000 to support streetscape and public art initiatives.
“What do you think the mission of this board is?” Farmer asked Cavender. “Do you think a business recruitment guide is part of the mission?”
Cavender said he met with Edwards to make sure his funding requests lined up with specific goals of the East End Community Renewal Plan, which CURA administers. His six-page proposal report cited excerpts from the CURA plan.
Farmer was not convinced. She said she would not support funding for the recruitment guide.
“I see where the facade grant fits,” she said. “It has an infrastructure feel. The WiFi, it’s kind of an iffy area. I’ll leave that to the other commissioners. As to asking for two years up front, I cannot say I’d be for that.”
CURA Chairman Jack Cavender (no relation) asked Ric Cavender to return with more detailed cost information on his funding request.
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
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