Turn This Town Around

The Ultimate Fright? In Whitesville, Locals Transform Funeral Home into Haunted House

10.08.15

Photo by flickr/nightmaresfearfactory

Halloween will be a little more scary this year thanks to the hard work and community spirit being generated by the Turn This Town Around initiative here in Whitesville.

We spent September transforming a vacant building into 5,000 square feet of ghostly goodness.

And not just any vacant building.

A former funeral home. The perfect Haunted House!

The process of turning the vacant building into a haunted house is much like the process of turning a town around.

Our goal is to provide locals and visitors with a scary, fun and perhaps a unique Halloween experience, while raising funds in the process. (Turning a town around is fun, but expensive!)

Get more info about the Haunted House at our community blog, The Whitesville Word.

We spent September transforming the space into more than a dozen rooms of different themes. From fortune-telling to undertaking, and scarier things between, the space is crawling with fright and fun.

The process of turning the vacant building into a haunted house is much like the process of turning a town around. Different ideas and different people meet, collaborate and take action to try and achieve a vision of possibilities. Although different rooms and themes exist within the haunted house, the collective effort transforms the once empty, vacant space into something new and full of excitement.

But not everyone shares the excitement of our latest project. We saw some negative comments on social media, criticizing our effort. But that was only until more and more comments of support emerged from the local community!

Those words of encouragement are critical for volunteers and community members actively engaged in a wide variety of projects to help improve Whitesville.

The Hub’s Kent Spellmen once described the process of Turn This Town Around as “a real challenge.” He’s not joking.

Our Turn This Town Around group experienced opposition early on, even vandalism of projects.

But the past two weeks of support have validated every effort we have all made together.

Words of encouragement are critical for community members actively engaged in a wide variety of projects to help improve Whitesville.

Community members are watching, even joining our project groups. We are committed to this effort and we are committed to our town!

Join us every Friday and Saturday through October beginning at 7pm! General admission is $10 and student admission is $5.

And that vacant building currently housing the haunted house? The building will serve as the future town hall, thanks to the generosity and continued support from Whitesville State Bank. Thank you! One more (big) project that will help Turn This Town Around!

Gazette-Mail: In Whitesville, West Virginia’s Poor Internet Infrastructure Hits Home

09.27.15

By Michelle Allen/Gazette-Mail Op-Ed

A lot of the talk about providing better Internet infrastructure in West Virginia is focused on making the state a better place to do business, and helping us attract new industries.

And that’s definitely important. But equally important are the needs of residents and families.

Reliable and affordable high-speed Internet is not a luxury for us; it’s core to so much of everything we do as families and as a community.

There are a lot of West Virginians out there like me, who aren’t necessarily employers or business owners, who feel the real impact that poor Internet service has on everyday life in our communities — particularly outside the main cities.

I live in Whitesville in Boone County. We are only about an hour south of Charleston, but there is no reliable cell service for about 45 minutes in any direction. Without cell service, and in a time when more people choose not to have a landline, we are dependent on the Internet for so much — paying our bills, staying in touch with friends and family, and sharing information via email or Facebook with others in our community.

Here, the Internet isn’t just for playing games, streaming video and buying things on Amazon. It’s an essential tool for our basic day-to-day lives. Reliable and affordable high-speed Internet is not a luxury for us; it’s core to so much of everything we do as families and as a community.

Here in Whitesville, a lack of communication options is now becoming yet another challenge for us to overcome, as we, as a community, try and rebound from some very hard times in recent years.

At the moment the people of Whitesville are involved in the Turn This Town Around initiative, in which many of us are working together on small community development projects aimed at making Whitesville a better place to live and visit.

Community development work like this requires one very important ingredient — communication. We need to be able to share information — like where is the fundraiser being held, what time does the farmers market start and when is the next meeting about the rail-trail project?

We are all working to revitalize the town, just a little, and be masters of our own destiny. But poor Internet infrastructure is making it harder to do that.

Tackling this problem head on, we recently created a blog and newsletter, to try and keep everyone updated and working together. But when the Internet that we need to stay connected is both unreliable and expensive, it is hard. We are all working to revitalize the town, just a little, and be masters of our own destiny. But poor Internet infrastructure is making it harder to do that. And it’s something that we can’t fix on our own.

Lack of reliable Internet service also creates a public safety concern for rural residents. When the Internet goes down, which it often does, we have no back-up communication system in the case of an emergency. This is a dangerous situation to be in, in a place where there is no cell phone service.

If our state legislators can find a way to improve Internet infrastructure in West Virginia, I can tell you the people in Whitesville, and communities like ours around the state, will certainly thank them!

Read the full story at wvgazettemail.com

In Grafton, New Main Street Deck a Testament to Community Sticking Together

07.13.15

Photo by Charles White/All Aboard Grafton

You know, good community development is a lot like good comedy – timing is everything.

The community has to be ready to throw its support behind a certain project, and only then do you see great plans turn into real action. And when that community support is there, well, then the sky is limit!

We provided them with a $2,500 mini grant… we knew the people of Grafton would have to raise a lot more money and support to make their big idea a reality.

Early last year the people of Grafton raised the idea of building some kind of space in their main street for performances and public events. A vision emerged of a large deck on the vacant site of what was once called the Clark Building.

This was during the Turn This Town Around initiative, and Hub staff were working with locals to identify and cultivate achievable community development projects.

Back then, we provided them with a $2,500 mini grant to help get things started – just a small first step. We knew the people of Grafton would have to raise a lot more money and support to make their big idea a reality.

And then things started happening.

Photo by All Aboard Grafton

The City of Grafton contributed $10,000, including funding the purchase of the lot… Local community members started donating what they could to the deck project – time and materials mostly… The local Lowes provided a discount on lumber… And then Arch Coal, the company that owns the nearby Leer Mining Complex, threw their considerable support behind the project, donating $40,000 in supplies and construction assistance.

And hey presto, the deck was built.

Although some work remains to be done, already the Grafton Main Street deck has started hosting events, not only providing a great outlet for entertainment and community gathering, but also generating some new economic activity for food vendors and tourism businesses.

And the flow-on effects continue, with other businesses in the main street being inspired to give their storefronts a facelift, and developing plans to take advantage of the increased foot traffic during events.

This project is the perfect example of a place pulling together to create something wonderful that will benefit everyone in the community.

I am so proud of the people of Grafton for making this happen. It just goes to show what happens when a community commits itself to a simple idea, is patient, and is open to bringing all and any new partners into the project.

Want to see what all the fuss is about for yourself? On Friday, Aug. 7, the Main Street Deck will receive it’s official unveiling as part of Grafton’s First Friday festivities.

Get along. You’ll have a blast.

The White House Official and Ripley’s Fire Hydrant Kid.

06.25.15

Two things happened this week that really illustrated for me the spectacularly wide spectrum of people and work that make up this weird and wonderful beast we call “community development.”

On Tuesday, The Hub and our friends at the Coalfield Development Corporation convened a gathering in Fayette County of federal agency representatives, White House folks and economic development interests across the state.

It was a gathering of “suits.” We bought them together to talk some serious business.

It was, almost without exception, a gathering of “suits.”

We brought them together to talk some serious business: how West Virginia can make best use of the federal funding that is currently available to help communities impacted by the decline of the coal industry diversify their economic base.

Heavy stuff, but very important.

Just a few days before, I was out in the beautiful community of Ripley to work with the people there on their Turn This Town Around projects.

And I got to meet a young fella named Tyler Hilbert. Tyler is a junior at Ripley High School. Feeling a little parochial about his school’s identifying color, Tyler recently led a project to paint all of the city’s fire hydrants blue.

Why?

Well, why not?

Tyler’s youthful enthusiasm proved contagious, and the Mayor of Ripley decided to jump on board with his colorful campaign. In just a few weeks, all 164 of Ripley’s fire hydrants were transformed from the stock standard red to a much more eye-catching Ripley High School Viking Blue, thanks to Tyler, some generous volunteers and an army of city staff and helpers.

The Fire Hydrant Kid from Ripley, and the White House economic advisor. What’s the common denominator? The Hub.

This one simple and seemingly benign effort has provided a little spark of energy to the community, provided a fun and easy facelift to the place, and helped a bunch of other people see that they, too, can launch a project that makes a small but undeniable difference to their landscape.

Fun stuff, but also very important.

Tyler the Fire Hydrant Kid from Ripley. And the White House economic advisor. What’s the common denominator? The Hub. And all the people who are interested in grabbing the reins of West Virginia’s future, whatever they can do, wherever they are.

That probably includes you. Right?

Turn This Town Around Mini Grant Program

06.18.15

Program Overview and Requirements

The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation has approved a grant to the WV Community Development Hub that will provide each 2015 Turn This Town Around community with $50,000 in mini grant funding and $25,000 in pre-development funding.

Mini Grant Funding – $2,500 max.

To be eligible for a mini grant the project must meet the following:

Focused on low-hanging fruit projects, and possibly intermediate projects if used on an early phase of the project (Examples: farmers market, bike friendly community, crosswalk art, beautification projects, etc.)
May be used for technical assistance and/or materials for at least 20 community improvement projects
Maximum mini grant will be $2,500
Projects will be scored and selected by the Turn This Town Around sponsoring partners. Announcement of the selected projects will be made at the August meeting.
May NOT be used for the benefit of a sole individual, family, business, or organization
Must result in visible, measurable improvement in the community
Must provide benefit to the community as a whole
Must be supported by a team of at least three people, representing at least two different organizations
Each team member must participate in at least four community development workshops. Funding will not be released until the required workshop attendance has been met.
Secure $500 in matching funds towards the project (monetary or in-kind)
Project completed by May 2016

Complete and submit a 2015 Mini Grant Application by Wednesday, August 5, 2015.

All applications can be submitted to Amanda Yager by email at a.yager@wvhub.org or by mail at WV Community Development Hub, 103 Adams Street, Suite 200, Fairmont, WV 26554.

Pre-Development Funding – $25,000 max.

To be eligible for pre-development funding the project must meet the following:

Focused on bold aspirational projects (Examples: community center, food co-op, etc.)
May NOT be used for bricks and mortar construction
Examples of how the funding can be used include:
Feasibility study
Site survey
Site assessments
Engineering/architectural study and renderings
Planning
Financial projections
Development of a capital campaign
Legal structuring, etc.
Must be supported by a team of at least five people, representing at least two organizations
Each team member must participate in at least four community development workshops. Funding will not be released until the required workshop attendance has been met.
Completed by July 2016

Predevelopment funding may be requested in phases as the project develops and funding needs are identified.

Complete and submit a 2015 Mini Grant Application by Wednesday, August 5, 2015.

All applications can be submitted to Amanda Yager by email at a.yager@wvhub.org or by mail at WV Community Development Hub, 103 Adams Street, Suite 200, Fairmont, WV 26554.

Charleston Gazette: Locals With Can-Do Attitude Tackle Trash Problem in Tug Fork River

06.07.15

Photo by Sam Owens / Sunday Gazette-Mail

By Rick Steelhammer

Keith Gibson is working tirelessly to make the Tug Fork River tireless.

The former coal miner is now in his third year of operating Hatfield McCoy Airboat Tours, giving visitors breezy, 40-minute jaunts up and down the picturesque waterway separating West Virginia and Kentucky.

While Gibson can control the quality of his presentations and his 550-horsepower boat’s comfort, safety and speed, controlling unsightly riverbank trash and debris is a bit more difficult.

Gibson explored the idea of giving people a cash incentive to muscle discarded tires out of the stream’s silty bed and banks…

Instead of throwing up his hands in surrender, Gibson explored the idea of laying down a reward for Tug Fork tires, giving people a cash incentive to muscle discarded tires out of the stream’s silty bed and banks and haul them to a nearby shredder at Mountain State Recycling, in North Matewan. He thought a bounty of $5 per tire would do the trick and approached a number of possible funding sources to see if he could make his vision a reality.

As it turned out, West Virginia Hub’s “Turn This Town Around” program and the National Coal Heritage Area each ponied up $2,500, and the Mingo County Commission contributed $1,500 to produce a $6,500 reward pool — enough to remove and recycle 1,300 tires.

On Friday, scores of bounty hunters, joined by inmate work crews from Pike County, Kentucky, which lies across the Tug from West Virginia’s Mingo County, waded into the river in the vicinity of Matewan and began piling tires onto canoes, kayaks, jet skis and jon boats for transport to pick-up sites…

Read the full story at www.wvgazette.com

In Whitesville, Attention Turns to Problem of BAD Buildings

06.02.15

Photo courtesy Turn This Town Around Whitesville

If you were to write down a list of reasons why abandoned and dilapidated buildings are a problem for your community, would it look something like this?

“Can’t attract new businesses to blighted areas.”
“Unsightliness – no curb appeal.”
“Gives town a depressing feel to drive through.”
“Negative psychological effect on locals.”

These are just some of the effects that the people of Whitesville say dilapidated properties have on life in their community.

I suspect they are sentiments echoed by people in many places around West Virginia; abandoned buildings left to decay in place are a blight that is a real problem in many cities and towns.

So, what are the challenges that are preventing West Virginians from being able to fix the problem?

“Out-of-area owners.”
“Ineffective enforcement.”
“No incentive to act.”
“Unrealistic property values.”
“Property owners don’t want higher property taxes.”

Sound familiar?

Whitesville – a 2015 Turn This Town Around community – is one of nine communities in West Virginia receiving technical assistance support this year through a “BAD Buildings” grant from the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center at West Virginia University.

Where can communities like Whitesville start?
1. Do a local inventory.
2. Create a vision of what you want you town to be.

The problem of what to do with dilapidated buildings can be so large and overwhelming that it’s hard to know what can be done. So, where can communities like Whitesville start?

1. Do a local inventory. 2. Create a vision of what you want you town to be.

“This is an issue Whitesville has tried to confront in the past but we just ran into the proverbial brick wall,” says Kim Browning, a local leader of the Whitesville BAD Buildings team. “We have had our first meeting already and hopes are high. In that meeting the community as a whole discussed the problems BAD Buildings cause the town and problems in the way of fixing it. We also talked about what we as a community would like to see our town look like in 5 to 10 years from now. Our small town is in a unique position to make our town whatever we want it to be at this point.”

Kim told me that citizens are now taking photos of all the problem buildings in town, and trying to find out who the owners are. Once that step is complete, Whitesville will prioritize a list of buildings to work on based on urgency, and the cooperation of the owner.

Citizens are now taking photos of all the problem buildings in town, and trying to find out who the owners are.

“We don’t want to tear down or repair a building just for the sake of doing that,” she explains. “We need to find people who are interested in having a business or doing something in that building, and work toward making that happen. To restore with a purpose, if you will.”

That “sense of purpose” is what it is all about, really. Whatever the challenge in your community, bringing the citizens together to build and document a shared vision is a critical first step toward realizing that vision.

For now, it’s the basis that will allow the people of Whitesville to eventually transform the landscape of their town, one building at a time.

It’s Happening, People. In Whitesville, Citizens Take the Reins and Real Change Begins

04.22.15

Whitesville is changing.

While it would be premature to stay that this town has been turned around, what is undeniable is that since Whitesville began its Turn This Town Around campaign just a few short months ago, it is a visibly different place.

They are small improvements. Some new planters in the main street. A bit of landscaping at the local park. A touch-up at the entrances to town. But they are the real and tangible manifestations of an excitement for community improvement that Turn This Town Around has brought to this small community of about 500 near the border of Raleigh and Boone counties.

The people of Whitesville have grabbed their future by the horns…

As we reported a few weeks ago, the people of Whitesville have grabbed their future by the horns and are raising money and support for projects that they believe will begin the long and difficult process of bringing families, businesses and some level of prosperity and opportunity back to the community they love.

And as we learned during our latest Turn This Town Around meeting in the Whitesville Volunteer Fire Department station last night, they are showing no signs of letting up now.

If you’re interested in plugging in to any of the community initiatives about to launch in and around Whitesville, here’s a few upcoming opportunities.

On Friday, April 24, a Health & Wellness Expo will be held at the Raleigh-Boone Technical Center gymnasium in Pettus. The event is free and open to the public.10 a.m. – 3 p.m. More info: Sue Pauley – lpauley@ccwva.org

This coming Monday, April 27, there will be an informational meeting about how Whitesville might start a co-op grocery store. Rotary Room of the Whitesville State Bank, 6 p.m. More info: Adam Pauley – adamspauley@gmail.com

They started their own farmers market! Last weekend saw the launch of the Big Coal River Farmers’ Market at the Coal Heritage Riverwalk, and the plan is to continue it every other Saturday. More info: Sheila Combs – timsheila91@hotmail.com, or at their Facebook event page.

On Tuesday, May 5, a meeting will be held to discuss what to do about a number of abandoned and dilapidated buildings in Whitesville. The meeting is the kickoff to Whitesville $10,000 technical assistance grant awarded by the Northern Brownfields Assistance Center to find potential solutions to the problem of such buildings in our communities. Business owners and building owners are especially encouraged to attend. Salamy Building, 6 p.m. More info: Adam Pauley – adamspauley@gmail.com

Green thumbs and volunteers are needed on the morning of Saturday, May 9. The people of Whitesville will be doing landscaping and beautification work at Whitesville Elementary School. To get involved, contact Cheryl Nichols – clnichols@k12.wv.us.

The next Turn This Town Around meeting will be held at the fire station, May 19, 6 p.m. All welcome!

While all this is going on, teams of Whitesville citizens continue to work on other exciting projects, including the creation of rail-trail along a section of disused CSX rail corridor along Coal River, converting vacant land in the center of town into an active community space, a 24-hour emergency clinic, and improving local cell phone reception.

Power to the people.

In Whitesville, the past close by but citizens turned squarely toward new future

04.08.15

“The last time I was here in Whitesville was for the dedication of the memorial,” the young journalist told me.

As a reporter for the Charleston Daily Mail, in 2010 and 2011 Zack Harold spent a lot of time back in his home community covering the aftermath of the Upper Big Branch Mine accident. He’s a Boone County boy himself, went to Sherman High School, as did many from Whitesville.

In that dark season five years ago, Zack retuned to the people and places he had grown up with, listened to their grief, and wrestled with words for the paper that would adequately capture the loss, anger and confusion.

A moment of rejuvenation and reinvention, a chance to make headlines on their own terms.

Zack Harold is now managing editor of West Virginia Focus magazine, and in 2015 there’s a new story bringing him back to Whitesville. The name of the initiative is Turn This Town Around, and for the people here it is a moment of rejuvenation and reinvention, a chance to make headlines on their own terms.

Although every community that has been selected to participate in Turn This Town Around is excited by the opportunity, nowhere have we seen the level of community buy-in, passion and commitment that we are now seeing in Whitesville.

At their first public Turn This Town Around meeting, 143 people showed up – more than a quarter of the entire population. They have already begun fundraising, prioritizing projects, gathering recruits. The can-do spirit of Turn This Town Around Whitesville was initially embodied in a small group of local leaders, but it has now spread to well and truly energize the entire community.

Like a town whose high school football team has made it to state, messages of inspiration and encouragement decorate shop windows and business. Above the main street they have hoisted a giant yellow banner: “Welcome to Whitesville. Official Turn This Town Around Community.”

Though one could easily assume the obvious narrative that the town’s current optimism and strength was borne from the tragedy of five years ago, I think that’s a convenient characterization that misses the real heart of the town. And the people of Whitesville themselves certainly do not dwell on that wellspring.

Enough has been written and said about the devastation wrought on the community in 2010 without having to credit that low moment as the catalyst for everything positive that follows. The people of Whitesville honor and remember their past, but are firmly focused now on reinvention.

What has really impressed me about the people of Whitesville is not just their energy and enthusiasm, but their wholehearted acceptance of the fact that there is no one waiting in the wings – no government agency, no magic foundation or corporation – to rescue their community. That responsibility rests with them.

During my visits to Whitesville this year I have witnessed more than once the profound insight from a citizen that “it doesn’t matter what caused the coal industry to go the way it did. It’s happening, and that’s the reality we have to work with.”

If there was ever a place that probably had a right to feel sorry for itself – to bemoan tragedy and circumstance – it was Whitesville. But you get the feeling they are ready to move on, to roll up the sleeves and starting building the foundations of a new future.

It is our great honor to help them do so.

Whitesville hits the ground running with huge turnout and $14,000 in the bank

03.18.15

Photo by Michelle Allen

Wow. The community of Whitesville last night smashed the record for turnout at a Turn This Town Around meeting (if there is such a record), when 143 people from a total population of about 500 attended their campaign launch. That’s more than a quarter of the entire town!

This is a place as big on spirit as it is on ambition. As an organizer, seeing this kind of energy and turnout is incredibly heartening, and proves to me that the key ingredient for successful community development and transition is already in place – local commitment to a shared vision.

That shared vision is a Whitesville that takes charge of reversing the unhappy trend of recent years. What the people of Whitesville hope for is what many communities in West Virginia are seeking, and that is to make it possible for people to stay in town and raise their families, opportunities for new business activity, things to attract visitors and new residents, and a renewed sense of pride and rejuvenation in their main streets.

We encourage Turn This Town Around communities to think of three kinds of projects: Relatively simple, affordable “low hanging fruit.” A little bolder, more ambitious and costly. Grand ideas for the wish-list.

And like their Turn This Town Around peers in Ripley, the people in Whitesville see that a little beautification and some aesthetic improvements would be a great first step. There was discussion about planting flowers and improving the signage at either entrance to the town, starting an “adopt a planter” initiative, and fixing broken street lights.

I was really interested in a couple of other suggestions that demonstrate Whitesville’s belief in the importance of community engagement and social interaction – starting a community newsletter, little free libraries, and movie nights in the park.

Very cool.

The medium-level projects demonstrated the creative and diverse visions of Whitesville’s population, from improving access and recreational use of the Big Coal River that runs through town, holding an annual town festival, and starting a Rod & Gun Club, to annexing surrounding areas.

And the people are dreaming big! Imagine if there was a new technical school in Whitesville, or if the area became a fishing mecca thanks to stocks of trout? Or, if locals could buy all their groceries right in town at the new co-op grocery story? (The story of Alderson has inspired many of us!)

Photo by Michelle Allen

Led by community champions Adam Pauley and Hollie Smarr, what is really impressive about the Whitesville Turn This Town Around team is that they have wholeheartedly embraced the philosophy that “there is no time like the present!”

Rather than wait for this kickoff meeting to organize and begin the hard work ahead, Whitesville hit the ground running in the dead of winter and as of mid-March have already raised $14,000 in funds and resources for their projects!

First, there was a $10,000 technical assistance grant to address dilapidated buildings through the Bad Buildings program, followed by donations for local residents and businesses. And then the local elementary school students got in on the act, raising hundreds of dollars through their Chains for Change project!

Already, next steps are in the works. There will be community clean-up events in April, and weekly meetings of project leaders.

Do you live in Whitesville or the surrounding area? There is still a chance for you to get involved! It’s as simple of showing up to the next Turn This Town Around meeting at the Whitesville Fire Station at 6 p.m. on April 21. I promise you, you’ll be swept up in the energy and excitement.

Way to go, Whitesville.

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