Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
There were no party hats or balloons, but there was a birthday celebration at Discovery Junction in Marlinton for the June First Friday. The theme was Happy Birthday for West Virginia as well as to several places and organizations in Pocahontas County.
Parks and Recreation director Lauren Bennett talked about all the celebrations that will be happening this summer and throughout the rest of the year.
“We realized there are a lot of places in the county and some organizations that have some pretty big birthdays this month, this year,” she said.
The Pocahontas County Opera House Foundation is celebrating 25 years of providing performances and a meeting spot at the historical landmark.
Both Snowshoe Mountain Resort and the Allegheny Trail are turning 50 this year. The Allegheny Trail will have a celebration in September at the Green Bank Observatory, and Snowshoe has special plans for the upcoming winter season.
Camp Thornwood, which has been the location of 4-H Camp, National Science Youth Camp and almost all Pocahontas County High School band camps, will be 80 this year.
Also turning 80 this year is Smokey the Bear.
The Marlinton Rotary Club was formed 85 years ago this June and club historian Joe Smith shared information about the organi- zation and its members.
“We’ve had thirty Rotarians of the Year,” he said. “We’ve had eighteen Paul Harris awards. The Paul Harris award is the highest award that the Rotary gives worldwide. We currently have three Centennial members. A Centennial member is a person whose years of service and age equals a hundred. They are Roger Trusler, Eugene Simmons and Roy Gibson.”
Celebrating a centennial this year is Seneca State Forest, which has several events planned as part of a celebration this summer.
The Hunter House, which is home to the Pocahontas County Historical Society Museum is 120 years old.
The oldest, celebrating 250 years, is Fort Warwick, located in Green Bank. Bob Sheets, who owns the land on which the fort was built, spoke about the upcoming 250th anniversary celebration at the fort.
“Two-hundred, fifty years ago – yes, there were people here and they needed protection, so the colony of Virginia sent twenty-five men from Staunton, Virginia, to the headwaters of Deer Creek and they built a stockade, they built a fort,” he said. “We’ve been doing archeology there for almost twenty years now.”
On June 22 and 23, Fort Warwick will have a celebration with six archeologists leading digs on the site, artisans will be on hand to demonstrate crafts and skills from the era, live music will be performed by Juanita Fireball and the Continental Drifters and a fife and drum corps and a pioneer lunch will be served.
The event will culminate with a ceremony performed by the Pocahontas County Veterans Honor Corps at the Warwick Cemetery.
To honor all the birthdays and anniversaries in the county, Bennett asked the crowd to join in singing Happy Birthday led by the guest band for the evening, Independent State.
Rounding out the celebration, a large Pocahontas County-shaped cake, baked by Levi Hill and decorated by Bennett, was cut by Smokey the Bear and shared with the crowd. Hill made the cake and icing as part of a 4-H project.
First Friday also included the Farmers Market, crafts and games, baked goodies and informational booths from the museum, Seneca State Forest and Fort Warwick.
Mark your calendar for the next First Friday which will be July 5.
