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00I00INTON iE WS
(Continuing the Hntoq 9aii] tle¢s & The Weekenu Leader
Home of the W. Va. Water f'estival
Volume 101 No. 27
Hinton, West Virginia Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003
50 Cents
The first weekend of Railroad Days found an estimated
4,000 on the downtown streets between 2nd and 4th
Ave. for the annual festival In conjunction with the CoJ!Ia
R Hurltgtoil'Historlcal SociEty's New River Train ....
Excursion. The first train, Saturday, was sold out with
over 800 people on board, while Sunday the train was
almost sold out, said Dorothy Jean Boley, volunteer
director of the Railroad Museum and festival
coordinator. "1 don't believe we could have squeezed
anymore people in," she said, pleased with the turn out
• for the first weekend. Above: Bill Wade of Lewisburg,
with the Seneca Trail Model Railroad Club, adjusts one
of the miniature trains. The exhibit, on the second floor
of the Railroad Museum, is one of the most popular
attractions for the event. Right: Jamie Rodes is shown
taking some youngsters on a carriage ride through
Hinton's Historic District. The building in the back was
once a livery stable before "horseless carriages" came
on the scene. The rides, offered by Rodes Carriage
Service, is making its second appearance at Railroad
Days and is an extremely popular part of the festival.
About 60 vendors will return next weekend
for the second half of the annual Railroad
Days festival. Left: The John Henry exhibit
celebrates Summers County's railroad
heritage. Bole]/said many of the food
vendors "ran out of food each day long
before the festival ended." People were lined
up along the streets enjoying the "tasty
treats," she said. "1 think all of them were
satisfied with what they did." Railroad Days
will return next weekend with the same
lineup of entertainment and vendors for
anyone that wants to get in on the action,
she said. The event, one of the best in
several years, is expected to draw another
4,000 to 5,000 next weekend. Below: Visitors
on the New River Train Excursion are shown
returning to the train after the days'
activities. Shuttle bus service was provided
for the weary. Photos by Everett Crawford
Whitewash Tradition Now
Includes Vulgar Language
and Drawings
By Fred Long
What was once a harmless school
tradition showing school spirit just
prior to the homecoming game has
turned into an excuse for young
people to damage private property
and paint vulgar graffiti and
drawings on the highway.
"It was pretty bad in some
sections of the county where some
really vulgar language and
pornographic like drawings were
painted" on the highway with the
whitewash, but the John Henry
statue didn't get hit this year,"
Sheriff Garry Wheeler said.
Last year during the annual
whitewashing, just prior to the
homecoming game, the John Henry
statue got a bath from the
whitewash that was thrown from
buckets against the statue of the
classical black figure of American
folk history.
It was the fourth time the statue
had been disfigured by a coat of
whitewash prior to the high school
homecoming game.
"I don't know when the tradition
started," wheeler said, "and I hate
to be the one to try to stop it, but I'm
going to stop it if I can."
wheeler said early Thursday he
and his deputies confiscated 530
pounds of dry lime that was being
used tomake th whitewash. By
doing this he put a stop to a lot of it
before it got started. He also roped
offthe John Henry statue so vehicles
could not get close to it like in the
past and throw the whitewash from
the back of pickup trucks.
"I was determined that this
wouldn't happen again this year,"
wheeler said. "I stayed up there
almost all night guarding the
statue."
The vulgarity that is now
associated with what was once a
demonstration of school spirit puts
a "black eye" on Summers County.
"That's not what it's all about,"
wheeler said. "We have evidence
that white paint was mixed in with
it too."
Wheeler said he had two pages of
names of people involved in the
whitewashing this year and 10
names of the people that might have
written the vulgar graffiti and
pornographic drawings on the
highway.
"I guarantee you that I'm going
to follow up on these names and do
something about this," Wheeler said.
No one can remember when the
tradition of whitewashing school
slogans on the highway to greet the
opposing team for the homecoming
game began. In the beginning the
whitewash would disappear in a few
days, but adding white paint to the
mix has kept the graffiti on the
highway for several months and
damaged vehicles that have driven
over the mixture'before it becomes
dry.
Summers County won the
homecoming game Friday night
defeating Independence with a score
of 33-21. Bobcat Dennis Gore scored
two rushing touchdowns and caught
a touchdown pass from Braxton
Huffman. Justin Ward also had a
15-yard fumble recovery return for
a touchdown.
00'mIThis and That
By Fred Long
The Railroad Days festival proved
to be the most entertaining and
enjoyable in years. The
performances in Town Square had
large crowds with everyone I talked
with saying they enjoyed every
minute of it. Jimmy Costa was
excellent as always and the
magician Bobby Lilly was
outstanding. Lilly made balloon
hats for the children in the Railroad
Museum and kids were lined up
from one end of the building to the
other and outside. He worked
overtime making the hats and could
have continued forever it seems
because the line didn't seem to
shorten. He had another
engagement later that day and had
to stop with some children going
away empty hatted. Another special
treat for visitors were the carriage
rides provided by Redes Carriage
Service. Owned by "Richie Rodes
(former school superintendent) and
his wife Linda, the carriage rides are
appearing at Railroad Days for the
second year. Their children Kim and
Jamie, dressed in tuxedo type attire,
were busy the entire time giving one
ride after another in the Cinderella
style white carriage that was being
drawn by a four-year old registered
Belgium draft horse named Bonnie.
Redes Carriage Service is a new
business venture for the Rodes
family. It's available for weddings,
anniversaries, proposals, or any
special occasion that calls for a
romantic atmosphere, what's more
they have their own website:
www.rodesfarms.com or by calling 1-
304-753-5724.
In Sept. 2001 the "first Hinton
High School "All 60's Class Reunion"
was held. If success is measured in
numbers, it was a success with
attendance in excess of 350. To
provide an opportunity for those who
were unable to attend due to limited
planning time, the date for the next
"All 60's Class Reunion" has been set
for Sept. 3 and 4, 2004. An initial
meeting to form the next reunion
planning committee has been set for
Monday, Oct, 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the
Dairy Queen in Hinton. The
Continued on page ! 0
AWARDED SCHOLARSHIP
The Hinton Area Foundation recently held a reception in the
Fellowship Hall of the Catholic Church for the purpose of awarding
scholarships to graduating seniors of Summers County. Skip
Mills, President of the Foundation, presented Campaign 200
Scholarship to Kristin Ward in the amount of $4,000.