If you're Roanoke businessman Mike Whiteside, it wasn't too far back. While casting lines with friends and friends of friends, he learned that the guy holding the pole beside him was a producer for the hit reality show John & Kate Plus Eight.
Between baiting hooks, the two got to talking about Mike's work. He reclaims architectural treasures--mantels, doors, floors, shutters, you name it--from old buildings that are about to be torn down. He sales his finds, along with business partner Robert Kulp, in the Roanoke shop Black Dog Salvage.
Now, skip ahead a few months. DIY Network has turned its cameras on this history-loving duo and their ragtag crew. They've shot hundreds of hours of footage and cut it into a new series aptly called Salvage Dawgs.
[caption id="attachment_6665" align="alignright" width="155"] A 12' tall statue is among the shop's quirkier finds.[/caption]
The show premiered in November and was an immediate hit. When I asked Christa Stephens, Blackdog's marketing manager about its impact, she laughed and said, "We've got a parking problem." Salvage Dawgs has sparked a swarm of new customers. "Folks are finding us who didn't know we were even here," she added.
When they arrive, people discover more than architectural treasures. Beyond the expected doors and shutters, Blackdog Salvage boasts a 14,000 square foot "marketplace." Stall after stall is filled with home and garden furnishings, both old and new; stained glass; gifts; and crafts from artisans across the region.
Salvage Dawgs hasn't just captured shoppers' attention. It has also turned heads at Knoxville-based Scripps Networks Interactive. After the show's initial success on DIY, its first four episodes are about to air on sister channel HGTV, which reaches about twice as many households.
You can catch the HGTV airings on January 3 and 10, 2013. They are currently slated to run at 8 and 8:30 ET both nights, but be sure to check your local listings.
If you have DYI, you can watch Salvage Dogs even sooner. Two episodes air tonight, and all five original episodes air New Years Day.
What's better than seeing the show?
Visiting Black Dog Salvage in person, of course. The warehouse-sized store is open Monday through Saturday, 9 AM - 5 PM. Think you'll make it out? If you've ever been, what are some of your favorite finds?
Tell us what you think of the shop and the show. Post a comment below.
[youtube]1hLPjHMK6V4[/youtube]

[caption id="attachment_6610" align="alignleft" width="310"] Katie MacIntosh developed "Hairy Bikers" for HISTORY.[/caption]
Have you ever told your more peculiar friends or relatives "you should have your own show"?
Well, here's your chance to help them out. Katie MacIntosh, casting director at the agency Mac Worldwide, is looking to build a new documentary series around interesting mountain folk. She needs people who march to their own Appalachian beat. Maybe they live way off the grid. Maybe they're part of a quirky family. Maybe they run an unusual business.
"Our goal is to show the diverse and unique world of Appalachia," Katie explained to me. "The pride and flavor of a people."
She went on to compare her concept to what she sees when she reads The Revivalist. "I love how you mentioned in your blog that Appalachians have their own language, their own food...that's exactly what we want to tap into. Those who almost live by their own code."
Now, we all know that there've been wide ranging portrayals of mountain people--everything from crazed hillbillies in movies like Deliverance to attempts at real authenticity in HISTORY's recent series Hatfields and McCoys.
[caption id="attachment_6616" align="alignright" width="141"] Katie MacIntosh, casting director at Mac Worldwide.[/caption]
When emailing with Katie, I pointed this out and explained that stereotypes about our region have a real impact. I asked, point blank, where she fell on this spectrum.
Here's how she responded--"I absolutely understand where you are coming from regarding the media...We are not out to reinforce any undue stereotypes. We respect the Appalachian region and its people and hope to be able to peel back the layers of the fascinating lives that many of the people lead."
As points of reference, she noted other shows she's developed. Her series Lovetown USA airs on The Oprah Winfrey Network. It unites the entire town of Kingsland, Georgia behind a single goal--to help eight singles find true love in their own backyard. She also developed Hairy Bikers for HISTORY, in which two food-obsessed, wooly-faced bikers take viewers on a backroads eating tour of America.
After watching a few clips from these hits, I was convinced. Sounds like Katie MacIntosh is good people. Which brings me back to my original question. Who in our extended mountain clan is entertaining enough to deserve their own show? Who would do the region proud and hold viewers' attention? Who should be put on national TV to represent Appalachia?
Share your ideas below, and be sure to include your email address. It won't be publicly visible, but it will allow Katie to contact you if she'd like to follow-up.

How do you pronounce Appalachia?
We don't need Merriam Webster to tell us that the word's third vowel can be a short A or a long A. If you've spent fifteen minutes in the mountains and fifteen minutes anywhere else, you know that.
You also know that this little difference in pronunciation can lead to some big arguments. I've seen folks launch into fiery diatribes to defend their version. Long A People say that Short A People don't know how to speak proper English and ought to get their snaggle-toothed selves on a bus, plane, or train and learn how the rest of the country talks. Short A People point out that the dictionary has both pronunciations and then call Long A People a bunch of vocal imperialists who wouldn't know the value of local identity if it smacked them in the behind.
From this point on, broken beer bottles or firearms are often involved. I can't say who comes out on top, because I usually make a quick retreat. But I bet you can tell me--who's right? And why on earth does this one little vowel matter so much?
Before you leave your comment, be sure to check out this clip from novelist Sharyn McCrumb. She is the author behind the Appalachian "Ballad" novels, including the New York Times best sellers The Ballad of Frankie,so she knows about dialect. Sharyn doesn't think this is just a case of tuh-mey-toh or tuh-mah-toh. She believes that Appalachia is one mighty important word and how you pronounce it tells the listener a lot about who you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGCqWrsAZ_o

Either you felt it or you heard about it. The area around Whitesburg, Kentucky was home to a 4.3 magnitude earthquake yesterday. It occurred at 12:08 p.m. EST.
While it wasn't huge, it was big enough to rattle pictures and knock over knick-knacks, not just in Kentucky but across the region. On The Revivalist's Facebook page, folks responded to the question "who felt the quake?!"

All this earth shaking set me to wondering--what's the risk of a more serious quake in the Appalachian South?
Turns out, we have one major fault line and several smaller ones in or near our area. The New Madrid fault is the largest of these. It runs just west of us and puts large population centers, such as Memphis and St. Louis, at risk for a bigger earthquake. Other small faults run right through the mountains, such as the one that caused yesterday's event.
According to a 2010 interview with Dr. Michael May, a geology professor at Western Kentucky University, we shouldn't be too concerned about the size of a quake in these parts. A major earthquake would probably be centered west of us, along the New Madrid. We should, however, consider our lack of preparedness for one. Earthquakes can reach 6.0 in the eastern United States, and Dr. May says that "some of our older buildings were not constructed with that seismic risk in mind."
After yesterday's quake, The Los Angeles Times noted that the biggest quake ever recorded in Kentucky was a 5.2 in 1980, which struck in Sharpsburg, a town in the eastern part of the state. "Property damage totaled more than $1 million during that temblor, with collapsed chimneys and cracks in the ground seen about 7 1/2 miles away from the epicenter."
All told, earthquakes, even local ones, can do damage, and other natural disasters are common in our mountains too--tornadoes, severe winter storms, even hurricanes as they sweep inland. There's plenty of reason to prepare for the worst. You can find excellent emergency preparedness tips on the American Red Cross Website and in its new suite of emergency apps.
Also, the below earthquake awareness video is a fun way to learn what to do the next time a quake hits our area. Produced by Lexington high school student Samuel Stucky, it won the 2012 Kentucky Emergency Management video contest.
So did you feel yesterday's quake? Do you feel prepared for a serious disaster? And if you could have any one item in your emergency preparedness kit, what would it be?
[youtube]8bO-MrVsTRM[/youtube]

This week my mama got a little sneaky. My birthday was Friday, and since she lives some 250 miles away, she called my partner Ryan to task him with a family tradition.

Growing up, my nose was coated in butter within an hour of waking up on October 26. Mama got me while I was still groggy and stumbling around our apartment with sleep in my eyes. She'd sneak up behind me with a generous dab of butter--usually Kroger's Cost Cutter brand. It would be balanced on her index finger, threatening to slide off and drop to the floor. She'd hug me from behind, and while she had me in her grip, she'd reach for my nose and smear me good.

As a kid, I thought it was funny. As a teen, I worried that the grease would cause a break out. These days, I'd pay good money to have Mama here, spreading a dollop of butter across my face. It was a sweet custom, but with family living far off, it's one that I never expect to be upheld.

Now, Ryan was great on my birthday. He bought me a vanilla/vanilla cake, which is a favorite; he gave me a card addressed from him and our dog; and he told me that we could go wherever I wanted for dinner. I opted for chinese delivery so I could eat in my PJs with my pup at my feet. The day came and went without a molecule of butter touching my nose, but I didn't know the difference.

I went to bed thinking that my birthday was a hit, and got up Saturday to run errands. That's when mama called. I was biking around town, and pulled over. I'd barely said hello before she asked, "Now, did Ryan give you something special?"

I told her about the dinner and described the front of the card--a pug wearing a birthday hat. She mmm-hmmed and awwwwed and waited, clearly expecting more. Since there was nothing left to tell, I started to change the subject, to ask about her cats, but she stopped me cold.

"Woah. Now wait. Is that all?"

Thinking she was about to come down on my partner's gift giving skills, I went on the defense. "That was plenty, Mama," I said, "The cake was really good and..."

"Well, that little turd!"

She interrupted me, and that's all it took. Maybe it was her tone, but I knew, right then, that this wasn't about what Ryan gave me. It was about something he forgot to give me.

I hustled home, biked like the wind to get to him first. I found Ryan petting the dog, oblivious to the storm that was brewing a state away. I touched his shoulder and, in all seriousness, advised him to change his telephone number.

"That woman's ready to skin you over the cellular lines," I told him, adding, "And I know her. She'll find a way to do it."

Poor thing. He didn't know whether to pee or go blind. He's from Illinois. He had no way of knowing that he'd interfered with a tradition that extends back to my childhood and God knows how much further. If miscellaneous websites are to be believed, birthday nose buttering originated in Scotland. The grease made unlucky forces slide right past, insuring a good year. Today, it's popular in a number of places settled by that nation's fiery people, including the Appalachians, Newfoundland, and other parts of the eastern Canada.

So Ryan stepped in it good. Mama's on the war path, and now we're searching for a safe house where he can hide. If you've got one, please let me know. Also, if you come from a family of nose butterers, by all means, keep that tradition alive.
 

About this time each year, I sit on my front porch with a bowl of candy, taking swigs from the bourbon and Coke that I've tucked behind my jack-o-lantern and yucking it up with neighborhood families as they parade by dressed as vampires, princesses, and cartoon characters that I'm too old to recognize.
I usually don't have much on my mind. Sometimes I wonder if I'll run out of treats or if anyone can smell the tipple on my breath, but I can say with certainty that I have never spotted a kid with a sheet over his head and thought to myself, "Hmm, did God make ghosts?"
I mean, has that question ever occurred to you? Of all the strange things that enter your brain on sleepless nights or when you're zoning in the shower, have you wondered that?
Not me. At least not until last week when I was clicking through websites while watching TV. Though my attention was torn, I couldn't miss the purple flashing homepage of Appalachian GhostWalks.
Appalachia? Ghosts? In October?
Right away, I knew this little company was blog-worthy, so I picked up the phone and called its owner Stacey Allen McGee. Though I reached him at 9:00 pm during his busiest season, Stacey sounded like he'd been waiting to hear from me. He gave me an excited greeting and told me, right off, that his ghost tours are like none other in the world.
To illustrate his point, he tossed out a question--"What is faith?"
I hesitated, hoping that he'd answer for me, and he did. "The evidence of things not seen," he said.
I didn't follow, so Stacey continued. "Every night, when we take people out on these tours, we hope to introduce them to the kingdom of Heaven."
With that, he paused. He must have known that I'd need a second to process, and he was right. I mean, I knew the company took things-that-go-bump-in-the-night seriously. Right on its website, it said that its tours result from "years of professional, experienced scientific investigation," but I didn't expect this. Scientific investigation and theistic questions? Really?
Stacey went on to explain that one of the oldest ghost stories in the world is in the Bible. He referenced the Old Testament's King Saul, whose spirit had a two way conversation Samuel. He talked about Lazarus, who according to the Gospel of John, was raised from the dead by Jesus. Biblical scripture, Stacey said, shows that "when the body stops working, it's not the end of you."
He believes this as a Christian, and he tries to prove it as an afterlife researcher. Stacey's faith has led him to spend nineteen years pursuing evidence of the hereafter. He has taken photos and videos. He has conducted electro-magnetic research. He says that he has stacks of unusual images. They can only be explained through belief in God or belief in the paranormal...or both.
Talking to Stacey, this starts to make an unusual kind of sense. If Christianity holds that there is an afterlife and ghost hunters do too, maybe there is a way for the two to coincide.
At the very least, Stacey's beliefs have produced one of the region's most interesting tours. Before placing a house on his walks, Stacey conducts exhaustive paranormal and historic research. He wants to insure that his guests have the most authentic, informed experience possible, and it pays off. Everyone learns about local history and lore, and many people claim to have otherworldly experiences while they're on his tours.
Could there be a better time to find out for yourself?
As part of your Halloween countdown, maybe you should take an Appalachian GhostWalk. They're offered across eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. Prices start at $13 per person and same-day reservations are welcome. Stacey says the tours are appropriate for children as young as five, but a 97 year old woman once took two tours back-to-back because she had such a great time. Apparently, they're fun for all ages.
If you go, by all means drop a line here. If you don't, I'd still love to hear about your spine-tingling experiences. Have you ever seen a ghost? Do you think signs of the afterlife can be spotted in our hills and hollers? And if ghosts do exist, did God, in fact, make them?

You probably know that chestnut trees once blanketed the Appalachians. Before blight decimated them, they accounted for a quarter of all trees in the mountains. Their fruit sustained squirrels, deer, and other forest critters. They worked their way into Native American diets and lore, and when settlers arrived, the trees became a centerpiece of colonial life.
Chestnut wood was ideal for building. It was easy to split and decay resistant. With mature trees soaring to a hundred feet, there was also plenty of it. For centuries, it was used in houses, barns, flooring, and furniture. The wood was so strong it can still be found in split rail fences and old cabins throughout the region. The fruit was also important to settlers. Families harvested chestnuts by the bushel full to eat at home or sell in area markets.
Because the chestnut tree was central to Appalachia's economy and culture, its rapid decline was a blow for our ancestors. In the early 1900s, a deadly fungus was accidentally imported from Asia. It caused sunken cankers to form around chestnut tree trunks. This killed all of the wood above the wound and eventually took each tree down. As the blight spread, these grand trees fell, one by one. By the middle of the century, the American chestnut was all but extinct, leaving a gap in forest ecosystems and a hole in the lives of mountain people.
[caption id="attachment_6411" align="alignright" width="195"] Smoky Mountains Hiking Club rests at a large chestnut tree.[/caption]
For decades, scientists attempted to revive the trees, to create a disease resistant variety. Their efforts were stymied by funding shortages, political whims and, as time passed, the deaths of everyone who remembered seeing plentiful chestnuts in forests, yards, and town squares.
The nation lost interest in the chestnut tree, and its fate might have been sealed were it not for the formation of The American Chestnut Foundation in the 1980s.
Its energetic founders, a group of scientists, set about uniting multiple sectors behind restoration efforts. They were helped by a budding commitment to native fauna among biologists and managers of public land. Gradually, research dollars expanded, breakthroughs were made, and by the first decade of this century, the Foundation had develop a promising strain of the American chestnut.
The new tree was a hybrid--the marriage of the American chestnut and its cousin, the Chinese chestnut. “We diluted out all the traits of the Chinese chestnut except for blight resistance," the foundation’s chief scientist recently told The New York Times. This left the American chestnut biologically intact, adding the important ability to ward off the attacking fungus.
Since 2005, this new hybrid has been growing in high-profiles spots around the country--the National Mall in D.C., the New York Botanical Garden, in other parks, and on school grounds. Now, for the first time, it is being tested in the wild. According to the Times, the trees are being planted across more than 360 acres in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee over the next three years.
While these innovative trees aren't available for purchase, you have a chance to get your hands on one. Just visit Heartwood, the Appalachian heritage center in Abingdon, Virginia, during its 3rd Annual Chestnut Restoration Celebration. The event is October 13, starting at 10 AM.
During it, you'll hear stories about these cherished trees from naturalist Doug Elliot and Abingdon-based storyteller Donnamarie Emmert. While munching on fresh roasted chestnuts and other refreshments, you'll receive a briefing on the ongoing restoration efforts; and perhaps most importantly, you'll be able to enter a raffle to win rare Restoration Chestnut seedlings--the strain that is currently being tested across our region.
Tickets are $25.00 for adults and $40.00 for families. The cost of admission also covers membership in the Adopt-A-Tree program, which supports restoration efforts and provides you with ongoing updates.
All told, it's the perfect opportunity to join this growing movement. Who knows. In a few decades, you may point to the tree growing in your yard and tell your grandkids that you were part of this uniquely American success story, that you helped revive the American chestnut.

*

Have you spotted one of the few remaining American chestnuts in your neck of the woods? How do they look? Think you'll plant the new variety if it is a success?
Share you chestnut memories and thoughts here.

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UPDATE: Over on Facebook, Jeff Wallace flagged the opportunity to get Restoration Chestnut seeds. With your $300 annual sponsorship of the The American Chestnut Foundation, you receive two seeds to plant in your yard or woods. Thanks, Jeff!

2011 March on Blair Mountain. Photo provided by mulch.thief on Flickr.

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled against returning Blair Mountain to the National Register of Historic Places. The move would have protected the mountain from mining by Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal, which have received mining permits for the historic site.

As you may recall, Blair Mountain was the site of the largest civil uprising since the Civil War. Miners warred against mining companies for fair pay and basic rights in 1921.

According to Ken Ward Jr. at the Charleston Gazette, "the citizen groups could not meet one of the requirements to show 'standing' to bring the case, that of 'redressability,' or that a favorable ruling from the court would redress their injury."

Here is the judge's explanation:

It is likely, therefore, that surface mining would be permitted on the Blair Mountain Battlefield as a result of permits that were acquired prior to the historic district’s inclusion on the National Register. An order from this Court restoring the Blair Mountain Battlefield to the National Register, therefore, will not prevent mining from occurring should the coal mining companies who own existing permits choose to exercise their rights afforded by the permits. The Court having only a limited ability to redress the plaintiffs’ asserted injuries, the plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden under the final prong of the standing inquiry.

A spokesman for the advocacy group Appalachian Voices, responded with this statement:

The real story is the relentless campaign by coal companies to undermine the national significance of Blair Mountain so they can blow it up to get at the coal. It’s simply stunning that they would even consider demolishing the site of the largest battle on American soil since the Civil War and one of the most important historical landmarks for organized labor in the world. Can you imagine if a company sought to turn the Gettysburg battlefield into a massive landfill? Is nothing sacred to these big coal companies beyond next quarter’s profits?

Today’s court decision was based on a technicality and is not the last word on the fate of Blair Mountain. We call on the Obama Administration to use its full power to ensure that this national treasure is protected. Furthermore, we call on Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal to respect our cultural heritage and the memory of those who gave their lives to improve the conditions of working people by abandoning this outrageous effort to conduct mountaintop removal coal mining operations on Blair Mountain.

I just discovered this excellent talk at Berea College. It features two of Appalachia's most noted scholars--bell hooks (intentionally uncapitalized) and Dr. Bill  Turner. Both are Kentuckians. She was raised in a rural black community deep in the hills. He was raised in a mining family in Harlan County.
Here, they bust loose about the hidden lives of black Appalachians and nasty stereotypes about white folk from the region. At first the discussion seems a little pedantic, but stick with it. Dr. Bill Turner keeps it real by saying things like, "When I first came to Berea College, I couldn't believe that they let all these squirrel run around without nobody shooting them!"



 

My friend Dave Tabler posted this rocking video from Tennessee's Museum of Appalachia, along with the perfect description:
"The last 2 seconds of this video is truly impressive: the anvil explodes upward, then lands TWO FEET away from the launch pad. That's some seriously amazing anvil engineering going on to keep that baby from veering off into the crowd!"
[youtube]n1xS_FK_Xs4&feature[/youtube]

Good news! Remember the petition I created last week? This is the one calling on Carilion Clinic to extend family memberships at its gyms to unmarried couples, including same sex couple.
Well, in eight days it attracted more than 90,000 signatures along with national media coverage and prompted Carilion to revise its criteria for family membership!
The below statement was posted this afternoon on the Roanoke and Botetourt Athletic Clubs' Facebook page.
I applaud Carilion Clinic for moving so quickly and for responding to the outpouring of support on my Change.org petition for Will Trinkle, Juan Granados, and their two-year-old son Oliver Trinkle-Granados.
I also want to thank everyone who signed my Change.org petition. You hailed from all over-Roanoke to Rome-and you delivered a clear message that there is no room for this kind of discrimination in the world.
Congratulations to Will, Juan, Oliver, and all of you!
**
Dear RAC/BAC members,
We want to let you know that the Roanoke and Botetourt Athletic Clubs are making a change in our membership guidelines. We will be distributing an email blast to all members, but because the change is important and effective immediately, we are sharing the news on Facebook as well.
Since opening our doors over three decades ago, we have always strived to provide the very best in service, programs, and staffing. Our goal has been, and always will be to encourage and inspire health and wellness among all members of the communities we serve.
In keeping with this goal, and in recognition of the many contemporary households that can benefit from our facilities through discounted membership fees, we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our Family Membership into a new Household Membership with the following criteria:
Household Membership:
A household consists of a primary member and up to one additional household member that permanently lives in the household, and any of their dependent children under the age of 22 who also reside in the household on a permanent basis.
Club dues will not change; dues for the Household Membership will be the same as the Family Membership it is replacing. There is no requirement to amend your membership, but should this change be advantageous to you, please contact our sales office. If we may answer any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
We thank you for your continued patronage and will never take that for granted.

Keith Judd, Felon and U.S. Presidential Candidate

Something's in the air in DC, and it smells a lot like coal dust to me. Last week, Jay Rockefeller called on coal companies to stop using scare tactics and denying the inevitable energy changes. Now I'm learning that, just before the Senator's speech, one coal county sent a big, sooty cloud toward Washington. This one, though, was directed at The White House.

In the May Democratic primary, Mingo County, West Virginia gave 61 percent of the vote to Keith Judd, a convicted felon. Now mind you, Judd isn't the kind of felon who paid his debt to society and is trying to make things right. He is serving time right now in a Texas prison for a fraud conviction. Somehow he managed to get himself on the West Virginia ballot and beat the President of the United States.

I heard about this unlikely showdown while riding in the car today. I was listening to the below NPR piece from Noah Adams, who is no stranger to these parts. He wrote the 2001 book Far Appalachia: Following the New River North and has regularly covered the region.

Take a listen to the story, and please oh please tell me what you think. Does Mingo County represent WV on this, or is it the outlier? What do you make of the locals interviewed in this piece? And is coal the new black, cause it sure seems to be getting a lot of attention?

NPR: OBAMA'S 'CLEAN COAL' FIGHTING WORDS TO W.VA. DEMS