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["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 hozablatz 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/"]%

1. Transcript of oral history of Eleanor Betler

Identifier:
4224.BetlerEleanor.IntTranscript.2.5.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Eleanor Betler
Date:
2016-02-05
Creator:
Betler, Eleanor
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Bakers, Bread, Swine, Food habits, Helvetia (W. Va.), Hill farming, Corn bread, Beef cattle, Carnival, Canning and preserving, Wild leek, Orchards, Sheep farming, 4-H clubs, Cheesemaking, Dairy cattle, Swiss American women, foodways, Cooking, Swiss
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Vernon John Burky was born to a Swiss family in Helvetia, West Virginia in 1925. He grew up speaking Swiss on his family farm, where his parents raised animals and managed a sawmill, and his grandparents operated a cheese house. They made Helvetia cheese, a type of Swiss cheese, similar to Emental, that was made throughout the Helvetia community and a staple in the diet of residents. As a child, Burky raised chickens and tapped maple trees on his family farm. As an adult, he was an active winemaker, a common pursuit in the Helvetia community. During his working years, Burky worked as a truck driver for a saw mill and a coal company. He learned to play fiddle as a child and started playing in the Helvetia Star Band, the local dance band for generations and the namesake of one of the villages two dance halls. He still plays in the group, which performs regularly for Helvetia square dances and events. Yeah; just kept that smokehouse full of smoke all day and night. Theyd put a big hunk of wood on it; it wouldnt burn but it--they had fire under it and it would sit there and smoke that little room half as big as this. They just smoked up tight. They had the sausage on rods; nothing could come in or get up on there. There it would sit; it was just dried up real solid and my uncle was--I stayed with my uncle when I was in high school. And he said, hey Vernon; come over here. (Laughs) He had rheumatism and he couldnt move around. He was in bed all winter. Go up there to the smokehouse and get me a link of that sausage. (Laughs) And Id go up and clip one of them off and bring it down. Hed get a hold of one piece and put the rest under the pillow and hed start eating that. He wasnt supposed to have red meat because of rheumatism.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. Transcript of oral history of Vernon Burky

Identifier:
4224.BurkyVernon.IntTranscript.11.14.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Vernon Burky
Date:
2016-11-14
Creator:
Morgan, Thrayon, Burky, Sandy, Burky, Vernon
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily, Whipp, David
Subject:
Fiddling, Square dance music--United States, Cooking (Sauerkraut), Eggs, Cooking (Sausages), Cheesemaking, Wine and wine making--United States, Fiddle tunes, Maple syrup, Helvetia (W. Va.), Cooking, Swiss, Waltz, Canning and preserving, Sawmills
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Marion Harless of Kerens led a 2018 apprenticeship in green traditions with Kara Vaneck of Weston as part of the 2018 West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Harless is a co-founder of the Mountain State Organic Growers and Buyers Association and the West Virginia Herb Association, and has taught widely on medicinal herbs, edible landscaping, and native plants. Vaneck is the owner of Smoke Camp Crafts and has served as vice president and treasurer of the West Virginia Herb Association.Read our feature on Harless apprenticeship with Vaneck here: https://wvfolklife.org/2018/12/20/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-marion-harless-kara-vaneck-green-traditions/Read Emily Hilliards article on Marion Harless here and in the Spring 2019 issue of Goldenseal Magazine: https://wvfolklife.org/2019/03/22/the-state-folklorists-notebook-people-need-to-know-about-plants-herbarist-marion-harless/"]%

3. Transcript of oral history of Marion Harless and Kara Vaneck

Identifier:
4224.HarlessMarionVaneckKara.IntTranscript.8.28.18
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Marion Harless and Kara Vaneck
Date:
2018-08-28
Creator:
Vaneck, Kara, Harless, Marion
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Weirton (W. Va.), Apprenticeship programs, Basket making, Herbs--Utilization, Traditional medicine, Wine and wine making--United States, Canning and preserving, Herb gardening, Irish Americans, Dye plants, Herbalists, Willow baskets, Herb products, Gardening, Food habits, Herbs--Therapeutic use, foodways
Location:
Randolph 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/"]%

4. Transcript of oral history of Henry Rice

Identifier:
4224.RiceHenry.IntTranscript.4.30.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Henry Rice
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Rice, Henry
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Canning and preserving, American ginseng, Cooking, Swiss, Wine and wine making--United States, Wild leek, Pickling, Deer hunting, Morels, Cheesemaking, foodways, Food habits, Restaurateurs, Turkey hunting, Tanning, Trapping, Hides and skins, Helvetia (W. Va.)
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Sharon Rollins grew up in Charleston, West Virginia and moved to Dallas, TX when she was thirty years old. Upon retirement in 2010, she moved to Helvetia, West Virginia and has since become involved in a number of community projects. She manages the Ramp Supper, serves as treasurer for the Helvetia Community Fair, and volunteers at the Hutte Restaurant.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/"]%

5. Transcript of oral history of Sharon Rollins

Identifier:
4224.RollinsSharon.IntTranscript.4.30.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Sharon Rollins
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Rollins, Sharon
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Helvetia (W. Va.), Wild leek, Cooking, Swiss, Food habits, foodways, Canning and preserving
Location:
Helvetia (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 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/"]%

6. Transcript of oral history of Cecelia Smith

Identifier:
4224.SmithCecelia.IntTranscript.4.30.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Cecelia Smith
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Smith, Cecelia
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Helvetia (W. Va.), 4-H clubs, foodways, Wild leek, Swiss American women, Food habits, Cooking, Swiss, Bakers, Canning and preserving
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)