Photo provided by Sen. Rockefeller on Flickr.

Last Wednesday, Senator Jay Rockefeller gave a controversial speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. He spoke in opposition to the Inhofe Resolution, which would have disallowed emission limits on mercury and other toxins at coal-fed power plants. The resolution failed on a 46-53 vote.

Rockefeller's carefully chosen words have been covered by media outlets from coast to coast. Politico called it a "stunning coal-industry-needs-to-face-reality speech." The Salt Lake Tribune said that Rockefeller "told the truth when he said the coal industry was doing itself and its employees no favor when it insisted on clinging to a dirty, polluted and technologically backward past." The Washington Post questioned whether this represent's Rockefeller's "legacy project" since the senator is not expected to run for re-election when his term is up.

Take a look for yourself. What do you think of Rockefeller's speech? Do you agree that coal companies have taken a stance that "denies the inevitability of change in the energy industry, and unfairly leaves coal miners in the dust?"

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Madame President, I rise today in the shadow of one seemingly narrow Senate vote — the Inhofe resolution of disapproval of the Environmental Protection Agency’s rules on mercury and air toxics — to talk about West Virginia. About our people – our way of life, our health, our state’s economic opportunity – and about our future.

Coal has played an important part in our past and can play an important role in our future but it will only happen if we face reality.

This is a critical and contentious time in the Mountain State. The dialogue on coal, its impacts, and the federal government’s role has reached a fevered pitch.
Carefully orchestrated messages that strike fear in the hearts of West Virginians and feed uncertainty about coal’s future are the subject of paid television ads, billboards, break room bulletin boards, public meetings, letters and lobbying campaigns.

A daily onslaught declares that coal is under siege from harmful outside forces, and that the future of the state is bleak unless we somehow turn back the clock, ignore the present and block the future.

West Virginians understandably worry that a way of life and the dignity of a job is at stake. Change and uncertainty in the coal industry is unsettling. But my fear is that concerns are also being fueled by the narrow view of others with divergent motivations – one that denies the inevitability of change in the energy industry, and unfairly leaves coal miners in the dust.

The reality is that many who run the coal industry today would rather attack false enemies and deny real problems than find solutions.

Instead of facing the challenges and making tough decisions like men of a different era, they are abrogating their responsibilities to lead. Consol’s Bobby Brown, was never timid, especially when he and the United Mine Workers turned around labor management relations in the central coal fields.

Scare tactics are a cynical waste of time, money and worst of all coal miners’ hopes. But sadly, these coal operators have closed themselves off from any other opposing voices and few dared to speak out for change – even though it’s been staring them in the face for years.

This reminds me of the auto industry, which also resisted change for decades. Coal operators should learn from both the mistakes and recent success of the auto industry. I passionately believe coal miners deserve better than they are getting from operators and West Virginia certainly deserves better too.

Let’s start with the truth. Coal today faces real challenges, even threats and we all know what they are:

–  First, our coal reserves are finite and many coal-fired power plants are aging. The cheap, easy coal seams are diminishing, and production is falling – especially in the Central Appalachian Basin in Southern West Virginia. Production is shifting to lower cost areas like the Illinois and Powder River Basins. The average age of our nation’s 1,100-plus coal fired plants is 42.5 years, with hundreds of plants even older. These plants run less often, are less economic and the least efficient.

– Second, natural gas use is on the rise. Power companies are switching to natural gas because of lower prices, cheaper construction costs, lower emissions and vast, steady supplies. Even traditional coal companies like Consol are increasingly investing in natural gas over coal.

–  Third, the shift to a lower carbon economy is not going away and it’s a disservice to coal miners and their families to pretend that it is. Coal company operators deny that we need to do anything to address climate change despite the established scientific consensus and mounting national desire for a cleaner, healthier environment.

Despite the barrage of ads, the EPA alone is not going to make or break coal. There are many forces exerting pressure and that agency is just one of them.

We need real world solutions to protect the future of coal.

Two years ago, I offered a “time out” on EPA carbon rules — a two-year suspension that could have broken the logjam in Congress and given us an opportunity to address carbon issues legislatively.

But instead of supporting this approach, coal operators went for broke when they demanded a complete repeal of all EPA authority to address carbon emissions forever. They demanded all or nothing, turned aside a compromise and in the end got nothing.

Last year, they ran exactly the same play, demanding all or nothing on the cross-state air pollution rule – refusing to entertain any middle ground, and denying even a hint of legitimacy for the views on the other side. And they lost again, badly.

So here we are with another all-or-nothing resolution destined to fail. This foolish action wastes time and money that could have been invested in the future of coal. Instead, with each bad vote they give away more of their leverage and they lock in failure.

This time the issue is whether to block an EPA rule – the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS or Utility MACT) – that requires coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution.

I oppose this resolution because I care so much about West Virginians.
Without good health it’s difficult to hold down a job or live the American dream. Chronic illness is debilitating and impacts a family’s income, prosperity and ultimately its happiness.

The annual health benefits of the rule are enormous. EPA has relied on thousands of studies that established the serious and long term impact of these pollutants on premature deaths, heart attacks, hospitalizations, pregnant women, babies and children.

Moreover, it significantly reduces the largest remaining human-caused emissions of mercury–a potent neurotoxin with fetal impacts.

Maybe some can shrug off the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics and others but I cannot.

This rule has been in the works through a public process for many years. Some businesses – including some utilities in West Virginia – already have invested in technology and are ready to comply.

Others haven’t prepared – because they have chosen to focus on profits rather than upgrading or investing in these smaller, older and less efficient coal-fired plants that were paid for decades ago and that they’ll tell you would be retired anyway.

That’s right. Every single plant slated for closure in West Virginia was already on the chopping block from their own corporate boards within several years.

It’s important to be truthful to miners that coal plants will close because of decisions made by corporate boards long ago – not just because of EPA regulations, but because the plants are no longer economical as utilities build low-emission natural gas plants.

Natural gas has its challenges, too – with serious questions about water contamination and shortages and other environmental concerns. But while coal executives pine for the past, natural gas looks to the future -investing in technologies to reduce their environmental footprint. And they’re working with others on ways to support the safe development of gas – and we will all be watching.

It’s not too late for the coal industry to step up and lead by embracing the realities of today and creating a sustainable future. Discard the scare tactics. Stop denying science. Listen to what markets are saying about greenhouse gases and other environmental concerns, to what West Virginians are saying about their water and air, their health, and the cost of caring for seniors and children who are most susceptible to pollution.

Stop and listen to West Virginians – miners and families included – who see that the bitterness of the fight has taken on more importance than any potential solutions. Those same miners care deeply about their children’s health and the streams and mountains of West Virginia. They know we can’t keep to the same path.

Miners, their families, and their neighbors are why I came to West Virginia and they are why I made our state my home. I’ve been proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with coal miners and we’ve done a lot of good together over the years.

For more than 20 years, I’ve worked to protect the health and safety of coal miners – everything from the historic Coal Act, to mine safety laws, pensions, and Black Lung benefits – always with miners’ best interest in mind.

And despite what critics contend, I’m standing with coal miners today by voting against this resolution.

I don’t support this Resolution of Disapproval because it does nothing to look to the future of coal. It does nothing to consider the voices of West Virginians. It moves us backward, not forward. And unless this industry aggressively leans into the future, coal miners will lose the most.

Beyond the frenzy over this one EPA rule, we need to focus squarely on the real task of finding a long-term future for coal that addresses legitimate environmental and health concerns.

Let me be clear. I’m frustrated with some of the top levels of the coal industry, but I’m not giving up hope for a strong clean coal future. To get there, we’ll need a bold partner, innovation and major public and private investments.

In the meantime, we shouldn’t forget that coal fired power plants provide good jobs for thousands of West Virginians. It remains the underpinning for many small communities and I will always be focused foremost on their future.

Instead of finger pointing, we should commit ourselves to a smart action plan that will help with job transition opportunities, sparking new manufacturing and exploring the next generation of technology.

None of this is impossible. Solving big challenges with American ingenuity is what we do. West Virginia knows energy and West Virginia doesn’t shrink from challenge. We have the chance here to not just grudgingly accept the future – but to boldly embrace it.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240"] John Henry statue before restoration. Photo provided by Smythe Richbourg.[/caption]
This week, leaders in Talcott, West Virginia rededicated the town's most famous statue. It depicts an eight foot tall, muscle bound John Henry, standing with his feet spread wide and a hammer in both hands. He looks like he is ready to spring off of his stone base and drive some serious steel.
The bronze statue is a testament to the folk legend, whose win over a mechanical steel driver is celebrated in songs and stories. Unveiled forty years ago, the statue sported twenty bullet holes, countless dings, and layers of paint when the John Henry Historical Park began work on it. After careful restoration, Mr. Henry was returned to his usual spot--the entrance to the Great Bend Tunnel.
This is where the legendary battle between man and machine was supposed to have happened. For decades, it has been accepted as fact by every towns person and tourist who has snapped photos of the hulking statue. No one had much reason to question it, at least not until Scott Reynolds Nelson came along.
Nelson is a historian at the College of William and Mary, and he asserts that this famous showdown could not have occurred at Great Bend Tunnel. He says that there isn't a single record indicating that a steam hammer was ever used in this spot.
Nelson believes that the actual site was the nearby Lewis Tunnel, which is situated between Talcott and Millboro, Virginia. A steam drill was used there, and, notably, so was human labor.
Those laborers were actually prisoners from the Virginia State Penitentiary. Still reeling from the Civil War, the state of Virginia had begun leasing convicts to private companies. Their work reaped $.25 per day, and during this period, many men were placed with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Their job was to take up chisels and hammers and tunnel through the Allegheny mountains.
Intrigued but this fact, Nelson began to search state prison records, where he encountered a man who upends the John Henry myth. In 1866, a young New Jersey native, only 18 years old, was stationed by the Union Army in Virginia. While there, he was convicted of stealing from a Richmond grocer. He was jailed at the state penitentiary, and later, leased to the C&O Railroad. His name was John William Henry.
This is a uniquely compelling find, because other historians have relied on personal accounts from the 1920s, interviews with men who claimed to have worked with Henry. The records found by Nelson are the first to difinitevely put a man with the right name in the right place at the right time.
Unfortunately, the trail ends there. Nelson's man disappeared from all public records by 1874. According to a New York Times articles on Nelson, there was "no mention of pardon, parole or release, strongly suggesting that [Henry] died while working on the railroads and not inside the prison, where his death would have been recorded."
Some of those interviewed in the 1920s said that one in five men died while driving steel into mountain stone. Tons of rock would shake loose and tumble down on them. This could have been Henry's fate, or he could have died according to the legend, from exhaustion after he defeated the machine.
Either way, Henry's final resting place may well be back at the prison grounds. Lyrics from the popular ballad of John Henry say, "They took John Henry to the white house, and buried him in the sand." The main building at the Virginia State Penitentiary was, in fact, a large, white structure, and prisoners were commonly buried on site. In fact, when the prison was demolishing in 1992, workers uncovered 300 anonymous skeletons that had been buried without any markers.
Was the folk hero John Henry among them?
It's impossible to say. No one knows where his body lies, but I think we do know where his spirit stands. The good folks of Talcott, West Virginia have given John Henry a true and permanent home. Whether it's by the right tunnel or not, they've created a place where we can celebrate Henry's legend and where he can remind us that whatever the trials of our day, nothing trumps the power of the human spirit.
[youtube]g6vcvYJCkic&feature[/youtube]

Growing up, I thought everyone had a fairy stone. My mother kept hers in the box that held her most treasured jewelry. She'd take it out from time-to-time and lay the cross-shaped stone in my hand. It was cool and brown, lightly polished with a metal loop on top but otherwise imperfect, raw, like it had just been pulled from the ground.

"This cross wasn't made by man," Mother would tell me.

Every time, I was amazed. I'd studied rocks in school. I'd pulled them from countless river beds. I'd never seen stones like this, but she said that there were many of them and that they were created by heartbroken fairies.

Many years ago, the fairies were happy, she'd explain. They lived in the woods not far away and were dancing when a stranger came. He'd traveled the world, and he stopped to tell them about the things he'd seen--great pyramids, rivers as wide as seas, and the saddest death ever.

A man who said he was the son of God had spent his life healing people and spreading love. "Jesus," I'd whisper. Mother would say, "Yes, Jesus," and continue. The stranger told the fairies that some men were afraid of Jesus and threatened by him, so they captured him and nailed his hands and feet to a cross. They whipped him, starved him, and let him die.

The fairies had never heard anything so sad. They began to weep and when their magic tears splashed against the earth, they suddenly crystallized and were frozen forever in the shapes of little crosses.

 

 

Fairy Stone State Park. Photo provided by "hsarik" on Flickr.

I'd squeeze the rock in my hand, certain that it was an ancient fairy tear and wonder if I could find a fairy stone of my own. I searched every stand of trees in our suburban neighborhood and kept my eyes to the ground whenever we were in the woods. I never found one, but maybe I just wasn't looking in the right place.

This Wednesday, June 6, Fairy Stone State Park in southwest Virginia will host a fairy stone huntand a necklace making workshop. The park, named after the famous keepsakes found within its borders, is one of a kind. Stones form like crosses in other places, but they are only found in abundance at this one park, and, of course, nowhere else has built such a endearing story around the stones.

Geologically speaking, the stones are staurolite, a combination of silica, iron and aluminum. According to the Virginia State Parks website, staurolite crystallizes at 60 or 90 degree angles, creating the stone's cross-like structure.

The mineral, which is only found in rocks that have been subjected to great heat and pressure, was formed during the rise of the Appalachian Mountains.

As a grown up, I think the truth behind the stones is nearly as enthralling as the myth. 

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Sweet Decay at a Mountain Resort

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You know what Springtime means--home sales!
Everything from in-town efficiencies to two hundred acre horse farms have hit the market in the past few weeks, which makes it the perfect time for another edition of "Which Mountain House is for You."
I've picked two homes that are for sale in the southern Appalachians. They're both in the same price range--this time a whopping $1.3 million. (It's fun to dream!) But that's where the similarities end. They’re different styles with different features.
So which mountain house is for you?
Vote here, and leave a comment below. It would be great to hear what won you over.
Downtown Condo
Charlottesville, Virginia
[nggallery id=charlottesville-condo]
This stunner touches the sky. In one of Charlottesville's premiere downtown condo buildings, it towers over the area's low rise buildings, affording you breathtaking mountain views. With three bedrooms, it's big enough for a small family. Features include:

• 10 foot ceilings
• Gas fireplace
• Walnut built ins
• Balcony
• Garage parking for two
• Walkable to all that downtown Charlottesville has to offer

This morning, we awoke to heart wrenching images from yesterday's devastating tornadoes. Homes, schools, and in some instances entire towns were torn apart as damaging storms and more than 95 tornadoes tore across the Midwest and into the Appalachians.
I know we're all eager to help. Here are announcements that I've found for ways to donate funds, time, and other resources to the disaster response efforts in our region and beyond. As I find more ways to help, I'll add them to the list. Please also share any announcements that you find. Submit them as comments below, and I'll incorporate them into this post.
If you have been affected by the storms or tornadoes, you can find food, water, and a safe place to stay at an American Red Cross shelter.
[caption id="attachment_5191" align="alignright" width="257"] March 2, 2012 reported tornadoes. Click for interactive map.[/caption]
Alabama
For volunteer information, call 2-1-1 (in Alabama) or toll-free 888-421-1266.
Kentucky
Central Bank locations are accepting donations for Kentucky Cares, a campaign established with the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Checks can also be mailed to the Bluegrass Chapter of the American Red Cross at 1450 Newtown Pike, Lexington, KY 40511 with Kentucky Cares in the memo line.
A truck at the Hamburg Pavilion Walmart in Lexington will be collecting goods on Monday, March 5th from noon to 7:00 PM.  Items needed include cleaning supplies, garbage bags, paper products, flashlights, batteries, bottled water, and non-perishable food.
Donate blood throughout central Kentucky with Kentucky Blood Center, which has locations in Lexington, Pikeville, and Somerset.
Kentucky Emergency Management has a special page set up for volunteer information.
I've seen that you can donate at Fifth Third Bank and Kroger in central Kentucky, but it's not clear to which organizations.



Tennessee
Greater Chattanooga Red Cross will begin holding volunteer orientations on Saturday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m. Positions include: warehouse, feeding, runners and office workers. Background checks are required. Contact this Red Cross chapter for additional dates and times.
Salvation Army Chattanooga is also seeking stand-by volunteers. Text your name and email to 423-505-1052 to be added to the list.
The McKamey Animal Centerin Chatanooga has a dog and cat food bank available for pets that have been affected by the storms. If your pets are displaced from your home or if you find displaced pets, please call 423-305-6500.
West Virginia
The Huntington Area Food Bank is sending a truck filled with food to hard hit areas in eastern Kentucky. They are accepting financial donations.

American Red Cross: donations can be made online or by calling 1-800 RED CROSS. You can also text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief. If you’d like to volunteer your time, you can search for volunteer opportunities online.
The Salvation Army donations can be made online or by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY. $10 donations can also be made by texting the word STORM to 80888.
World Vision donations can be made online or by calling 1-888-56CHILD. $10 donations can be made by texting WV to 20222.
 

I spent my weekend in the slender crevice between four Maryland mountains. Our friends Tim and Peter lent us their house. It’s a 1930’s bungalow that clings to one mountain, just a few yards higher than the Savage River, and faces another. From its wood porch, I watched for deer on the steep incline across from me and listened to river water splashing against winter’s cold stones. The house is graced with a big-bellied wood stove, mountain views from every window, and crisp air that is free of city smog and, as it turns out, wireless signals.
Having spent the last three days without internet access, I’m a little late on my usual weekend post, but I'm excited to share a find from Western Maryland. It's a series of upcoming films that will cover "Appalachian traditions in our changing world."
Each film will be short--fourteen minutes max. Collectively they will be called The Mountain Traditions Project. According to a write-up on Appalachian Independent, the films will follow area residents who are keeping mountain traditions alive. They include a dulcimer player, a metalworker, a quilter, a group of homesteaders, and kayakers. The music for the films was also composed and performed by Appalachian musicians.
The below preview gives you a taste of the final series, which premieres this Saturday at 6:30 PM in the Mountain City Traditional Arts store in Frostburg, Maryland. I'm hoping that the shorts also land online. If so, I'll be sure to share them here!
http://vimeo.com/35727605

[caption id="attachment_5053" align="alignnone" width="514"] Future eastern home of Sierra Nevada, Mills River, N. Carolina.[/caption]
How can your town attract a leading craft-brewed beer company, along with 200 jobs, a one-of-a-kind tourist destination, and a great restaurant?
Ask Asheville.
After an exhaustive three year search that spanned more than 200 locations, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company recently announced that its east coast headquarters will be built on Asheville's south side in a borough called Mills River.
Folks there are beside themselves. "The tourism aspect of this is going to be incredible," Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said in a recent interview. "People will come from all over the East Coast to visit this site, to do the tours or the restaurant or the sampling or whatever. It's going to be one of the major draws in Western North Carolina, perhaps second only to the Biltmore House. It's a big deal."
He's right. It is a big deal to Asheville and it was to another Appalachian location that Sierra Nevada considered. According to The Roanoke Times, the company also took a long, hard look at Roanoke.
"We were in the running for a long time," said Jill Loope, Roanoke County's acting director of economic development, "and we had high hopes for a long time."
According to Loops, Roanoke County was aggressive in its bid for the facility, but in the end, Asheville won out, which begs one question--why? What made Asheville shine brighter than Roanoke and 200-and-some other spots east of the Mississippi?
[caption id="attachment_5066" align="alignright" width="172"] Sierra Nevada's flagship brew.[/caption]
As a Roanoke-native, it smarts a little to ask these questions, but they're important. There's a lot the be learned here, so I reached out to Erika Bruhn, Sierra Nevada's Marketing Manager. She took a few minutes in the midst of the company's big announcement to talk about the search. She explains why Asheville was irresistible, why business incentives are only part of the equation, and why your city or town better get to work on those bike lanes.
After reading the interview, tell us what you think. What really hooked Sierra Nevada? What can your town do to to attract new businesses? Think this is worth sharing with your mayor or town council?
TR: Erika, thanks for talking with me. You've said that "the Asheville area offers Sierra Nevada Brewing the perfect confluence of community, recreation and craft beer culture." I can see that, and it would be great to hear more. What kind of community were you seeking? 
EB: For the past several years, in our search for a second brewery, we reviewed over 200 different sites with painstaking detail and an exhaustive list of qualitative and quantitative considerations. In North Carolina, we were humbled by the community, its values and the outstanding craft-beer culture in the area. While we were making this decision, it was important for us to choose a location similar to our home in Chico, California. Mills River and the Asheville area feel like a great fit for us; a close-knit community with outstanding quality of life, shared values and access to the outdoors.
TR: I've never been to Chico, California. What's it like?
EB: Chico is approximately ninety miles north of Sacramento with a population of around 80,000. A university community, Chico is home to California State Chico (CSU), and maintains a unique quality of life, with a small-town vibe, bike-centric culture, and incredible recreational opportunities in and around the surrounding area. Bidwell Park is one of the largest municipally owned parks in the nation (3,670 acres), is the focal point of the City's park system and offers trails for mountain biking, hiking and equestrian use.
[caption id="attachment_5072" align="alignleft" width="192"] Main brewhouse in Chico, California.[/caption]
TR: If you had to choose one, which influenced your choice more -- 1) the local culture and outdoor recreation or 2) business factors like taxes, access to clean water, and affordable land?
EB: We weren’t influenced by one factor alone, which is what made our decision more than a three year process! The intricacies and particulars of the brewing process relating to water quality, coupled with infrastructure needs Ken [Grossman, CEO] wanted around sustainability (close proximity to rail transport), made the requirements of a location challenging. Add to that, finding a community with shared values around the outdoor lifestyle, with a similar feel to our west coast roots, and you begin to understand more about our DNA and approach: it’s about making great beer of course, but also quality in everything we do: family, community and finding our sense of place were all unequivocally part of our decision.
TR: I understand that you were considering two locations in the Appalachians -- one outside Roanoke and one outside Asheville. Looking at just these two, what were the differences? 
EB: We can’t comment on other locations, but are very excited to have found our second home in the greater Asheville area in Henderson Country, North Carolina.
TR: If you could give any advice to cities and towns that are looking to attract a business like yours, what would it be?
EB: It’s difficult to offer that advice, since we haven’t walked in their shoes. It’s important to us to work with partners who have shared values and want to make a positive contribution to the local community.  We found that in Mills River.

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I am a sucker for open houses. When I'm walking around town and see those tell-tale balloons tied to a real estate sign, I make a bee line. I will stand-up friends or be late for a meeting. It doesn't matter; I won't pass up a chance to nose around someone else's place.
If I open the door and find the house empty, I do a brisk walk through, maybe critique the bathroom's tile job or admire a fireplace. And maybe, just maybe, see here for some good blinds to bedeck the windows with them to provide a hue to the house. I won't try to engage the real estate agent for fear of diverting his or her attention away from a real, prospective buyer. I stay long enough to have my "what if I lived here" fantasy, and then I'm on my way.
But if I see a La-Z-Boy that's too big to be "staged" or a cat scratch post hanging from a knob, any sign that real people live there, all bets are off. I linger, sometimes for an hour. I look in every closet. I open every cabinet, pretending to inspect the hinges. I peer under beds. I'm not searching for dust bunnies, just signs of life. I'm curious about the people who've sanitized this home, stripped out their books and family photos, painted accent walls back to renter white, and deserted the place for five hours so that strangers like me can tromp through.
It's not like I've ever stumbled across a severed thumb or a secret meth lab. I'm not expecting my self-guided tour to turn into an episode of Murder She Wrote. I just enjoy it when folks forget to hide their kid's battered hockey stick or they leave a mug that says "coffee helps me poop."
Really, that's it. That's enough. I just need to believe that these displaced owners are people I could know and maybe even like, that this oddly depersonalized house could actually be a home.
Do you get into open houses too?
If so, you might like this. Below are two houses. Both are in the Southern Appalachians and both are up for sale right now. That's where the similarities end. They're different styles with different features.
Which is the mountain house for you?
Vote here, and it would be great to hear what won you over. Leave a comment below.

Stone House
Burkittsville, Maryland
This 1890 charmer is pure coziness. With its golden stone exterior and red wooden shutters, it has the feel of a cottage but three bedrooms and a two story extension make it big enough for most any family. Features include:

• Fireplace and wood stove
• Open kitchen/dining area
• Log storage building
• Separate workshop
• Repointed stone
• Refinished floors
• Garden

      
Plantation House
Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Built in 1939, this showplace harkens to a much earlier time. You expect a hoop-skirted hostess to greet you from the curved stairs or for juleps to be served under a big elm on the lawn. Features include:

• Paneled den
• Fireplace
• Sunroom
• Sauna
• Exercise room
• Carriage house with finished office
• Optional guest house

    
 

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I will never under estimate the power of the blue and gold. Native West Virginians have flocked to Jason Headley's love letter to his home state, entitled "Dear West Virginia." Since it posted last Sunday, more than 42,000 people have read it and hundreds have left heartwarming comments.

 

All of them share Jason's love for the state's hills and hollers and many asked an important question - how do we keep gifted young people like Jason in the Appalachians?

 

Today's guest blogger Elizabeth Gaucher has a few ideas on that topic. She left West Virginia at the age of eighteen for college, launched a career in adolescent health and child advocacy, and found her way back home fifteen years later. Along the way, she created the project Essays on a West Virginia Childhood and the blog Esse Diem, where the below post originally published.

 

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The Magic Question: Can Appalachia Keep ItsYoung People

 

Every politician in a rural state with an aging demographic wants to know the answer to The Magic Question:

 

“How do we get young people to move here and stay here to start careers and families?”

 

I probably shouldn’t think this is funny, but for some reason I do. The situation itself is not funny, but the bizarre machinations around constructing arguments to lure twenty-somethings to rather than away from Appalachia are a little bit amusing. Part of the problem looks like this:

 

We say we want young, talented, intelligent, educated, passionate people to want to call West Virginia home.

 

Fair enough.

 

But then we talk to the very people we want to attract as if they are not wise enough to see what is written in flames about fifty feet tall. As beautiful as the Appalachians are, many parts of the region (including my home state of West Virginia) have a cascade of challenges. They are economic, social, educational, environmental, political, and medical. At least where I live, our day-to-day is not a party. We exist on some of life’s most frayed and tangled edges.

 

Don’t smart ambitious young people want to be in hip urban centers with lots of good times and easy living? That’s what it looks like on television, anyway.

 

What fascinates me is that I don’t think these “what’s in it for me” types are the ones we really want. No offense Jersey Shore and Gossip Girl; you’re entertaining and all, but you are the last thing we need over here.

 

The nation has suffered several years now of throwing off the costumes of wealth and easy money, sexy start-ups and Internet-driven marketing schemes. McMansions, gargantuan gas-guzzling vehicles, and extravagant parties are dwindling and even a source of embarrassment. We see more clearly what that all was, how false and how wasteful. No one wants to churn that again.

 

Even the PR efforts to market the great outdoors and low rent are part of a weak sales pitch. I’m betting we are on the edge of a different attraction. I say we market what we have for real and get the most hard-core world-changers we can.

 

I’m not sure what is more real than the opportunity to turn away from “all for me” and turn towards “all for the world.” Appalachia is in peril, and that is nothing new, but what may be new is the chance to harness global concern about our local issues to attract the right young people.

 

These are the ones who want to tell the stories of their youth as grand adventures in engaging serious problems with their whole hearts. They don’t care about bar-hopping and overspending on trips to casinos. They are modern journalists and water quality scientists and child advocates. They are health care specialists and teachers and professors. They are small business entrepreneurs and artists and historians and contractors. They are responsible natural resource leaders and sustainability experts.  Despite popular belief, they are lawyers too. They are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

 

They know right from wrong; they know giving from taking.

 

I don’t think they’re the types to tell self-pitying tales, and I don’t think they want a sales pitch or a hand out. I think they want us to get out of the way and allow their innovation, perspective, and talent to change the future of this complex place that we call home.

 

Will we?

 

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If you're like me, you don't plan your New Years Eve activities until the eleventh hour. We just decided two days ago to ring in 2012 playing pool and eating pickle flavored potato chips (our local billiard's specialty).
For all of my fellow stragglers, here are five favorite Appalachian NYE options:
5) SnowShoe Mountain's Gone Country New Years, Snowshoe, West Virginia: Snowshoe's 15,000 square foot entertainment venue, the Big Top, is going country tonight. Country headliners Tony Rio and the Relentless will be crooning for the grown-ups; the Boot Scoot Teen Dance starts at 11:30; kiddies will have video games; and everyone can chow on BBQ and fixins.
4) Tennessee Aquarium's New Year's Eve Sleep in the Deep, Chattanooga, Tennessee: Where else in the Appalachians can you ring in the new year with penguins? The Tennessee Aquarium invites you to go behind the scenes with its exhibits, get up close with their critters, and literally sleep with the fishes when you bed down in the Undersea Cavern of Ocean Journey. This one-of-a-kind slumber party includes guided tours, pizza, cider, and continental breakfast.
3) Veritas Vineyard, New Year's Eve Masked Ball, Afton, Virginia: Want to be a masked marvel in the new year? Here's your chance. Veritas Vineyard is hosting a five-course masked ball and dinner. There will be dancing until midnight, when the masks come off and the champagne flows. Breakfast follows at 12:30 a.m.
2) Georgia Appalachian Trail Club, Blood Mountain Hike, Blood Mountain, Georgia: Ring in the new year the way all good mountain folk should--standing on a mountain top. While details are iffy on its website, the Georgia Appalachian Trail Club is leading a six-mile loop hike that crests atop the 4,458-foot Blood Mountain, the highest peak on the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail.
1) Make Some Noise at Home, Wherever You Are: You don't need Dick Clark to rock out at home tonight. Just grab some pots and pans and latch onto local lore. According to our friends at Appalachian History, "some folks in Appalachia open every door and window at the stroke of midnight to let out any residual bad luck. They make a loud ruckus banging on pots and pans, setting off fireworks and taking part in other noisy activities to chase it far away."
However you ring in the new year, I hope you have a safe and spirited night!

Check out my gifts! With 125 of Dolly's favorite recipes and a coal history classic under my tree, it's been a very Appalachian Christmas. I hope you're having a wonderful day too, full of home cooking, maybe some country crafts, and more loved ones than you can count.