By Edgar Kelly Staff Writer – October 05, 2022

ELKINS — It’s a decades-old Mountain State Forest Festival tradition: Maid Silvia and her royal court visiting Randolph County schools. On Tuesday, Silvia’s caravan made several stops at schools throughout Festival City and beyond.

Caroline Fluke, the 84th Mountain State Forest Festival’s Maid Silvia LXXXIV, was greeted with warm welcomes and an array of gifts during stops at North School, the Highland Adventist School, Coalton Elementary, Third Ward Elementary, Elkins Middle School, Jennings Randolph Elementary School and Elkins Mountain School.

At Third Ward Elementary, Fluke and her two maids of honor, Hannah Lee Phillips and Sarah Diane Riggleman, were not only serenaded by the school’s choir, but the entire student body sang songs for her as well.

The trio also received gifts and were welcomed into the school’s gymnasium by the MSFF trumpeters. The students were entertained by the MSFF jesters, who flipped across the floor when they were introduced along with the rest of the royal court by Queen’s Department Director Tracy Gooden.

“Hello everyone, I’m so happy to be here today,” Fluke told the students. “I’m so excited for the rest of this week and it has been awesome so far. I would love to see you guys around town at the parade or at the carnival. So if you see me, come up and say hey.”

The queen and the royal court will continue with school stops today, as they visit Elkins High School (9:30 a.m.), the Randolph County Vocational Center (9:50 a.m.), Midland Elementary (10:05 a.m.), Tygarts Valley High School (10:45 a.m.), George Ward Elementary (11:05 a.m.), Beverly Elementary School (11:30 a.m.) and the Harman School (1:15 p.m.).

On Monday, Maid Silvia visited Elkins Christian Academy, Tygarts Valley Christian Academy and Pickens School. Fluke’s caravan has been escorted by officers from the Elkins Police Department, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office and the West Virginia State Police.

This week’s visits are leading up to the Royal Coronation that will take place Friday at the outdoor amphitheater on the campus of Davis & Elkins College. Fluke will receive her crown during the elaborate ceremony, which will feature 40 princesses from across the state, her two maids of honor, and her minor court.

Fluke is a 2019 graduate of Buckhannon High School and is the daughter of Eric and Jennifer Fluke of Buckhannon.

By Edgar Kelley – Staff Writer October 04, 2022

ELKINS — Downtown window displays featuring unique items from past Mountain State Forest Festivals allow festival goers a chance to take a trip down memory lane.

Third Street and Davis Avenue store fronts are currently displaying Forest Festival memorabilia, including former queen gowns, costumes, photos, dolls and much more.

“We currently have window displays in local businesses that range in a variety of different years and styles,” MSFF Assistant Director Karrah Washington told The Inter-Mountain. “We like to put a lot of vintage style dresses and costumes in the windows so that we get some of the history of the Forest Festival out there to the public.”

Washington said a mix of memorabilia from recent years is being shown in the windows, including a display in memory of a popular local figure who is no longer with us.

“We have a window in memory of John Zirbs that is located on Third Street,” she said. “It’s at the former Fancy Paws across from the Sewing Center. It’s a really nice tribute to him.”

Washington said the displays start at Citizens Bank of West Virginia and head up Third Street to the Elkins Sewing Center. From there, the displays that are located on Davis Street go down to Jojo’s Floral in one direction and to Pioneer Insurance in the other.

The only display located away from the others downtown is at the former Dodds Flower Shop on Harrison Avenue.

“We have a really, really nice display at the old Dodds location,” Washington said. “It’s a very old queen’s costume that a lot of people will find very interesting. We also have a vintage costume located at Tip Top on Third Street, and across the street from there at T.D.’s Classic Tees, there is a big display of Forest Festival dolls and gowns.”

Washington said the displays would not be possible if not for the hard work of many volunteers.

“We have a committee of volunteers that helps us put all these displays up,” Washington said. “It absolutely wouldn’t be possible to do without all the hard work they put in. We had a really great group to work with this year.”

Washington said the memorabilia the Forest Festival owns is stored away in safe locations until it is ready to come out each fall for the displays.

“A lot of the items are stored in the attic of the Mountain State Forest Festival office, and the costumes are put in a climate-controlled storage unit at U-Haul,” she said. “Some of the items we get are not from the Forest Festival, they are from people nice enough to let us use them, so they go back to their owners at the end of the festival.”

Despite the cancellation of the past two Forest Festivals due to COVID-19, officials decided last year to carry on the tradition of decorating the windows and putting up the displays for people to enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Brad Johnson Executive Editor

October 03, 2022

ELKINS — Despite rainy weather, hundreds of people turned out for the opening ceremonies of the 84th Mountain State Forest Festival Saturday morning at the Jennings Randolph Federal Plaza.

“It is fantastic to have the Forest Festival back, and to see this tremendous turnout for the opening ceremonies on this less than desirable weather day,” Ben Shaffer, the president of the MSFF Board of Directors, said in welcoming the crowd Saturday morning. “We very much appreciate it.”

Robbie Morris pointed out that he has served as MSFF Director General since 2020, because the festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

The opening ceremonies had “been a long time in the making,” Morris told the crowd. “It has been 1,091 days from the closing ceremony of the 83rd festival to today. They were some of the most challenging days of many of our lives. But we have persevered and are ready to start another amazing festival in our beloved Mountain State.”

Morris thanked the MSFF assistant directors and all the volunteers who have worked to make the 84th festival a reality.

“I would be remiss if I did not recognize a very special piece of our ‘Mountain Mosaic’ who is absent today,” Morris said. “John Zirbs, affectionately known as ‘Mr. Forest Festival,’ passed away in 2021. John was always the first to arrive for opening ceremonies, and the last to leave the closing ceremony. He was the epitome of what the Forest Festival is all about. You may love the Forest Festival as much as John, but there’s no way you love it more than John.”

Morris asked the crowd to observe a moment of silence in honor of Zirbs.

“Let us never take for granted what a blessing the Mountain State Forest Festival is to our community, our citizens and our state,”Morris added.

The West Virginia Highlanders of Davis & Elkins College performed during the opening ceremonies, as did a children’s choir from Beverly Elementary School, who sang “Country Roads” and “The West Virginia Hills.”

Due to the inclement weather, the MSFF Parade of Children was rescheduled from Sunday afternoon to Tuesday at 6 p.m. Registration will be at 5:15 p.m. The parade route will begin at the corner of 12th Street and South Davis Avenue.

The only opening weekend event to be canceled due to the weather was the MSFF Mountain State Street Machines Car Show on Saturday afternoon.

Several events were moved indoors on Saturday, including the MSFF Highland Dance Competition, the Strongest Team in the Forest competition, and the Kickoff Party, featuring Bon Journey.

Official MSFF Schedule Today

9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Randolph County Senior Bazaar, Randolph County Senior Center, 5th Street

5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Information Booth Open, Corner of Davis Avenue & 3rd Street

6:30 p.m. A Night of Dance, Citizens Bank Festival Stage Rotary amphitheatre Elkins Town Squares

7 p.m. Parade of Pets & Pet Show, Elkins High School Gymnasium

Tuesday

9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Randolph County Senior Bazaar, Randolph County Senior Center, 5th Street

5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Information Booth Open, Corner of Davis Avenue & 3rd Street

7 p.m. Talent Show, Citizens Bank Festival Stage Rotary amphitheatre Elkins Town Square (*Inclement Weather Location for all Downtown Stage Events, Elkins High School)

 

October 03, 2022 – Elkins – The Arts Center will host an opening reception for this year’s Fall Juried Art Exhibit on Wednesday from 5-7 p.m.

This reception is free and open to the public.

Arts Center Executive Director Kurt Barkley said he is very excited about this exhibit, as it is always one of the most popular of the year.

“The Arts Center is adding more and more events to our schedule as we continue to re-establish our fulltime programming for the community. Each year we strive to give the community a really beautiful show at Forest Festival featuring local and regional artists, and student artwork from schools in our region.”

This year’s juror is West Virginia artist Connie Mae Moeller, who grew up hiking in Michigan’s woods, drawing and painting from her experiences. She majored in fine art at Spring Arbor University and received additional education at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art.

Her early works were accepted into juried shows and galleries receiving honorable mentions. For several years, her artistic attention was devoted to teaching art classes.

Since moving to West Virginia in 2012, she enjoys the state’s wild and wonderful outdoors, and her art celebrates the beauty she finds. Her paintings have won awards and been accepted into several juried shows. An active member of her community, she has served on her local council for the arts and contributes to educational art programs. Her professional memberships include Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia and Allied Artists of WV.

“I create oil paintings that celebrate my love of nature,” Moeller said. “My work transports the viewer into the scene to experience the peacefulness that nature offers. Influenced by artists such as Asher B. Durand and Andrew Wyeth, my style unites the spirit I sense in each place with the joy I find in each detail.

“Working from my experiences in nature, I utilize plein air as well as photos for reference, creating an underpainting, then building up with color and glazing techniques similar to that of the old masters.”

The Arts Center’s Maxwell Gallery will offer a solo show by artist Seth Pitt, who operates an art gallery in Thomas called “Creature,” and a studio in the collaborative gallery and workspace The White Room, also in Thomas.

“I’ve decided that I deeply believe that all this work you see here, and all the work I will ever make, is a big team effort,” Pitt said. “We learn what we value by those who touch our lives through simply wandering around in their own simple, gorgeous ways, and we create what we do by looking into what we value. This stands to reason that everything I do is an echo of things I’ve learned from people, namely those who have shown me love, kindness or care.”

These exhibits will also be open to the public during the 84th Mountain State Forest Festival on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.

After this week, the exhibits will be open to the public Tuesdays through Thursdays from 1-3 p.m. through Nov. 16.

For additional information contact The Arts Center office at 304-637-2355 or online at www.randolpharts.org.