Museum Piece

Pioneer Days at the Museum 2022

We had more than a hundred visitors on Friday and a slew more on Saturday. Admission was by donation, and we just could not keep up, as we were also preparing for the Pocahontas County History Contests and Spelling Bees outside by the Price Cemetery. Thanks to Mary Sue and Mike Burns and Russ Watkins, who played music before and between contests – we loved it. 

These contests go back to the first Pioneer Days, and were started by the Pocahontas County Historical Society in 1966. Bea Gladwell was in charge for many years. This year, Hallie Herold quizzed the spellers and Denise McNeel posed questions to the local historians in separate children and adult competitions. 

We had a good audience who cheered on the competitors, especially out of state competitors who took on the challenges of local history – what good sports.

Winners of the Youth Spelling Bee were: first: Jarrell Clifton, of Marlinton; second: Sydney Emery, of Fort Myers, Florida; and third: Silas Dean, of Buckeye.

Winners of Adult Spelling were: first, Felicia Backus, of Barboursville; second, Ruthana Beezley, of Hillsboro; and third, Megan Em-ery, of Fort Myers, Florida.

Winners of the Youth Pocahontas History Contest were first, Jarrell Clifton, of Marlinton; second, Victor Dean, of Buckeye; and third, Ronni Cybula, of Melbourne, Florida.

Winners of the Adult Pocahontas County History Contest were first, Luci Mosesso, of Buckeye; second, Silas Dean, of Buckeye; and third, Sara Emery, of Loudon, Tennessee.

Please note that Silas won the Youth Contest last year, so had to enter the Adult Contest, in which he finished only one point behind his mother – can’t wait for next year!

We also received donations of framed Pioneer photos for your perusal, had some Civil War re-enactors at the Museum on Saturday, and did a Historical Tour of Marlinton on Sunday. 

Welcome new residents to Pocahontas County.