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["Diane Betler was born in Pendleton County, West Virginia and came to Helvetia as a child to live with her adopted mother Margaret Koerner, an immigrant from Germany. Ms. Koerner was a skilled home cook from her Ms. Betler learned many traditional recipes. She married Kevin Betler, nephew of Eleanor Betler, and they live in the Koerner home in Helvetias Metzner Hollow where Ms. Betler was raised. She served as the principal of Pickens Elementary/High School, the public school serving children from Pickens and Helvetia. Ms. Betler makes the yeast-raised doughnuts for Helvetias Fasnacht celebration every year using Margaret Koerners recipe.This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

1. Audio slideshow of Diane Betler talking about making doughnuts for Fasnacht

Identifier:
4224.BetlerDiane.Video.001.2.6.16
Title:
Audio slideshow of Diane Betler talking about making doughnuts for Fasnacht
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Betler, Diane
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Doughnuts, Cooking, Swiss, Swiss American women, Festivals, Carnival, foodways, Helvetia (W. Va.), Cooking, German, Food habits
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Eleanor Betler was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia in 1940 and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She spent her summers in Helvetia at the farm of her maternal grandparents, James and Anna Merkli McNeal. She married Howard Bud Betler in 1961. The couple moved to a hilltop farm in Helvetia and raised four children. All the good cooks, many of them relatives of Mr. Betler taught Mrs. Betler about canning, preserving, cooking and baking. She was especially interested to learn the skills of butchering and preserving meat, and making sausage. Mrs. Betler loves the Swiss traditional baking but also Appalachian ways of some neighbors. She grinds her own flour for baking bread. At Fasnacht time she invites neighbors and friends to make the hosablatz and rosettes just to keep the tradition alive. She also preserves this history by collecting stories, music, and photographs for The Helvetia Archives.This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

2. Audio slideshow of Eleanor Betler talking about making rosettes and hozablatz for Fasnacht in Helvetia

Identifier:
4224.BetlerEleanor.Video.001.2.5.16
Title:
Audio slideshow of Eleanor Betler talking about making rosettes and hozablatz for Fasnacht in Helvetia
Date:
2016-02-05
Creator:
Betler, Eleanor
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk dancing, Swiss, Doughnuts, Swiss American women, Food habits, foodways, Bakers, Square dance music--United States, Farms--West Virginia, Cooking, Swiss, Helvetia (W. Va.), Carnival masks, Carnival
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Dave Bing is a fiddler and fiddle maker from Melissa, West Virginia, outside of Huntington. He now lives in Harmony in Roane County, West Virginia with his wife. As a young man, he spent time learning from many elder fiddlers in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, including the Hammons Family of Pocahontas County. Dave Bing has been a member of numerous old-time bands such as The Bing Brothers with his brothers Tim Bing and Mike Bing, Gandydancer with Gerry Milnes, and The High Ridge Ramblers with Mark Payne and Andrew Dunlap."]%

3. Dave Bing plays the fiddle tune "Waynesboro"

Identifier:
4224.BingDave.Video.001.6.21.17
Title:
Dave Bing plays the fiddle tune "Waynesboro"
Date:
2017-06-21
Creator:
Bing, Dave, 1955-
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Fiddle tunes, Hammons (Family : W. Va.), Bing, Dave, 1955-, Fiddling, Old-time music, Folk music--West Virginia
Location:
Roane County (W. Va.)
["Cecelia Coleman Smith was born in Buckhannon, West Virginia in 1949. Originally from Pickens, West Virginia, her family moved away from the Helvetia/Pickens community when she was seven so her father could take a coal mining job. She moved back to Pickens in 2005. Mrs. Smith served in the military and is a member of the local American Legion chapter. She is also part of the Pickens Improvement and Historical Society, the Farm Womens Club, and occasionally volunteers at the Hutte Restaurant.This audio slideshow is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

4. Audio slideshow of Cecelia Smith talking about foodways in Helvetia

Identifier:
4224.CeceliaSmith.Video.001.4.30.16
Title:
Audio slideshow of Cecelia Smith talking about foodways in Helvetia
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Smith, Cecelia
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Bakers, Food habits, Helvetia (W. Va.), Pickling, Swiss American women, Cooking (Sauerkraut), Wild leek, Canning and preserving, foodways
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.), Randolph County (W. Va.)
["\"I want to sing an old song my grandmother used to sing when I was a kid... if I can remember-- I haven't thought of this for a long time. It was called \"The Two Little Orphans\" and she died when I was 12 years old and my sisters, they all, both remember her singing this. She'd sing us to make us kids cry, I guess! But let me see if I can remember it, it's been a long time. I was trying to think of it coming up here on the road today.\"West Virginia old-time musician, local historian, and collector Jim Costa sings \"The Two Little Orphans\" at the West Virginia Humanities Council MacFarland-Hubbard House, January 25, 2017.Jim Costa is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician, storyteller, and local historian. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan. Listen to the full tape of the concert here: https://soundcloud.com/user-521885027/west-virginia-folklife-presents-jim-costa-with-zoe-van-buren-12517Concert poster by Ratbee Press: http://www.ratbeepress.com/"]%

5. Jim Costa performs "Two Little Orphans" at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Video.001.1.25.17
Title:
Jim Costa performs "Two Little Orphans" at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council
Date:
2017-01-25
Creator:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk music--West Virginia, Folklore, Concerts
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["West Virginia old-time musician, local historian, and collector Jim Costa plays the Italian song \"La Spagnola\" on his grandfather's accordion at the West Virginia Humanities Council MacFarland-Hubbard House, January 25, 2017.Jim Costa is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician, storyteller, and local historian. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan. Listen to the full tape of the concert here: https://soundcloud.com/user-521885027/west-virginia-folklife-presents-jim-costa-with-zoe-van-buren-12517Concert poster by Ratbee Press: http://www.ratbeepress.com/"]%

6. Jim Costa performs "La Spagnola" on accordion at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Video.002.1.25.17
Title:
Jim Costa performs "La Spagnola" on accordion at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council
Date:
2017-01-25
Creator:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Concerts, Italian American families, Accordion, Folk music--West Virginia
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["\"I'm gonna try an old tune here that Jenes Cottrell used to play-- an old fella from Deadfall Run up in Clay County.\" West Virginia old-time musician, local historian, and collector Jim Costa performs \"Cherry River Line\" on banjo at the West Virginia Humanities Council MacFarland-Hubbard House, January 25, 2017.Jim Costa is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician, storyteller, and local historian. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan. Listen to the full tape of the concert here: https://soundcloud.com/user-521885027/west-virginia-folklife-presents-jim-costa-with-zoe-van-buren-12517Concert poster by Ratbee Press: http://www.ratbeepress.com/"]%

7. Jim Costa performs "Cherry River Line" on banjo at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Video.003.1.25.17
Title:
Jim Costa performs "Cherry River Line" on banjo at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council
Date:
2017-01-25
Creator:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk music--West Virginia, Banjo, Fiddle tunes, Cottrell, Jenes
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["Dave Bing is a fiddler and fiddle maker from Melissa, West Virginia, outside of Huntington. He now lives in Harmony in Roane County, West Virginia with his wife. As a young man, he spent time learning from many elder fiddlers in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, including the Hammons Family of Pocahontas County. Dave Bing has been a member of numerous old-time bands such as The Bing Brothers with his brothers Tim Bing and Mike Bing, Gandydancer with Gerry Milnes, and The High Ridge Ramblers with Mark Payne and Andrew Dunlap."]%

8. Dave Bing plays the fiddle tune "Golden Star Hornpipe"

Identifier:
4224.DaveBing.Video.002.6.21.17
Title:
Dave Bing plays the fiddle tune "Golden Star Hornpipe"
Date:
2017-06-21
Creator:
Bing, Dave, 1955-
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Hammons (Family : W. Va.), Old-time music, Bing, Dave, 1955-, Fiddle tunes, Fiddling, Folk music--West Virginia
Location:
Roane County (W. Va.)

Listen to Audio

9. Oral history of Joe Herrmann and Dakota Karper

Identifier:
4224.HerrmannJoeKarperDakota.AudioInt.9.14.20
Title:
Oral history of Joe Herrmann and Dakota Karper
Date:
2020-09-14
Creator:
Herrmann, Joe, Karper, Dakota
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Apprenticeship programs, Fiddling, Fiddle tunes, Old-time music
Location:
Capon Bridge (W. Va.), Charleston (W. Va.), Hampshire County (W. Va.)
["Joe Herrman (master artist, b. 1949) of Paw Paw in Hampshire County and Dakota Karper (apprentice, b. 1992) of Capon Bridge are participants in the 2020-2021 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, studying old-time fiddle. Herrmann is a founding member of the Critton Hollow String Band and has taught old-time fiddle to many private students and at the Augusta Heritage Center. Dakota Karper, a Hampshire County native, has been playing old-time fiddle for 20 years and runs The Cat and the Fiddle Music School. Herrmann and Karper apprenticed together previously in 2004 (when Karper was 11) through Augusta Heritage Centers former Apprenticeship Program.See the West Virginia Folklife Program feature on Herrmann and Karper: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/12/03/2020-folklife-apprenticeship-feature-joe-herrmann-dakota-karper-old-time-fiddle/"]%

10. Joe Herrmann and Dakota Karper play the fiddle tune "Rocky Mountain Goat" from Mose Coffman

Identifier:
4224.HerrmannJoeKarperDakota.Video001.06.17.20
Title:
Joe Herrmann and Dakota Karper play the fiddle tune "Rocky Mountain Goat" from Mose Coffman
Date:
2020-06-17
Creator:
Herrmann, Joe, Karper, Dakota
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Fiddle tunes, Fiddling, Folk music--West Virginia, Apprenticeship programs, Old-time music
Location:
Hampshire County (W. Va.)
["Henry Rice was born in Helvetia, West Virginia in 1978. He is the daughter of Catherine Irene Mailloux and grand-daughter of Eleanor Mailloux, the co-founder of the Hutte. His daughter, Morgan Rice, was also interviewed for this project. Henry Rice cooks for the Hutte Sunday buffet, and works in construction. He is also an avid hunter, trapper, ginseng and ramp digger, morel mushroom hunter, and a collector of old bottles and other artifacts.This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

11. Audio slideshow of Henry Rice, talking about digging ramps and working at the Hutte Swiss Restaurant in Helvetia

Identifier:
4224.RiceHenry.Video.001.4.30.16
Title:
Audio slideshow of Henry Rice, talking about digging ramps and working at the Hutte Swiss Restaurant in Helvetia
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Rice, Henry
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Cooking (Sausages), Cooking, Swiss, Forage plants, Bakers, Restaurateurs, Swiss Americans, Helvetia (W. Va.), Pickling, Cooking (Chicken), Restaurants--United States, Wild leek
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Morgan Rice was born in Helvetia, West Virginia in 1999. She is the daughter of Hutte cook Henry Rice, and great-granddaughter of town matriarch and co-founder of the Hutte restaurant, Eleanor Mailloux. Ms. Rice is a member of the Helvetia Farm Womens Club and works part-time as a waitress at the Hutte restaurant. In 2015 she created a petition to save Helvetias Ramp Supper.This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

12. Audio slideshow of Morgan Rice talking about the Helvetia Ramp Supper

Identifier:
4224.RiceMorgan.Video.001.4.30.16
Title:
Audio slideshow of Morgan Rice talking about the Helvetia Ramp Supper
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Rice, Morgan
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
foodways, Wild leek, Food habits, Helvetia (W. Va.), Cooking, Swiss, Forage plants, Swiss American women
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)