Menu Expand Menu Close
Back to Top
Filter Search Expand Close Filter
Search Expand Search Close
["Coal Camp Creations is a workshop in Kimball, WV in McDowell County, sharing space and run by the non-profit arts organization McArts. Workers at Coal Camp Creations, some of whom are former coal miners, create figurines and other objects from coal dust and sell them to visitors. McArts was founded by Jean Battlo and three other artists in 1979. Battlo now serves as the organizations creative director."]%

13. Large figurines of coal miners at Coal Camp Creations

Identifier:
4224.CoalCampCreations.Photo.014.4.14.16
Title:
Large figurines of coal miners at Coal Camp Creations
Date:
2016-04-14
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Tourism and the arts, Coal miners in art, Coal mines and mining, Folk art, Coal in art
Location:
Kimball (W. Va.)
["Coal Camp Creations is a workshop in Kimball, WV in McDowell County, sharing space and run by the non-profit arts organization McArts. Workers at Coal Camp Creations, some of whom are former coal miners, create figurines and other objects from coal dust and sell them to visitors. McArts was founded by Jean Battlo and three other artists in 1979. Battlo now serves as the organizations creative director."]%

14. Figurines of coal mining picks and more made at Coal Camp Creations

Identifier:
4224.CoalCampCreations.Photo.015.4.14.16
Title:
Figurines of coal mining picks and more made at Coal Camp Creations
Date:
2016-04-14
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Coal in art, Tourism and the arts, Coal mines and mining in art, Coal miners in art, Coal mines and mining, Folk art
Location:
Kimball (W. Va.)
["Coal Camp Creations is a workshop in Kimball, WV in McDowell County, sharing space and run by the non-profit arts organization McArts. Workers at Coal Camp Creations, some of whom are former coal miners, create figurines and other objects from coal dust and sell them to visitors. McArts was founded by Jean Battlo and three other artists in 1979. Battlo now serves as the organizations creative director."]%

15. Assorted figurines made from coal dust at Coal Camp Creations

Identifier:
4224.CoalCampCreations.Photo.016.4.14.16
Title:
Assorted figurines made from coal dust at Coal Camp Creations
Date:
2016-04-14
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Tourism and the arts, Coal mines and mining, Coal in art, Coal miners in art, Coal mines and mining in art, Folk art
Location:
Kimball (W. Va.)
["Coal Camp Creations is a workshop in Kimball, WV in McDowell County, sharing space and run by the non-profit arts organization McArts. Workers at Coal Camp Creations, some of whom are former coal miners, create figurines and other objects from coal dust and sell them to visitors. McArts was founded by Jean Battlo and three other artists in 1979. Battlo now serves as the organizations creative director."]%

16. Worker at Coal Camp Creations creates figurines from coal dust

Identifier:
4224.CoalCampCreations.Photo.021.4.14.16
Title:
Worker at Coal Camp Creations creates figurines from coal dust
Date:
2016-04-14
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Coal in art, Tourism and the arts, Folk art
Location:
Kimball (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

17. Mold for the Flatwoods Monster lantern, shot glasses, mugs, a hat, and other souvenirs for sale at the Flatwoods Monster Museum

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.011.1.30.20
Title:
Mold for the Flatwoods Monster lantern, shot glasses, mugs, a hat, and other souvenirs for sale at the Flatwoods Monster Museum
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Monsters, Museums, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Folklore, Tourism and the arts
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["Every year on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, the town of Helvetia in Randolph County, West Virginia, hosts its Fasnacht celebration, a pre-Lenten mountain Mardi Gras intended both to reinforce Swiss customs for locals and bring much-needed tourist dollars to the town in the sparse mid-winter months.Though the holiday was originally celebrated only by locals in the towns private homes, in the late 1960s, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux restored the holiday as a public celebration. Today, Fasnacht attracts attendees from near and far. The event begins with an open music jam at the Helvetia Star Band Hall or a special sampler plate dinner from the Hutte Restaurant. Then everyone gathers in the Star Band Hall in their homemade papier-mache masks for a masked lampion parade to the Community Hall. At the second hall, there is a mask contest for kids, a square dance called by local callers and accompanied by the Helvetia Star Band, and a treat table of traditional doughnuts and Swiss rosettes and hozablatz made by Diane Betler, Eleanor Betler, and other local bakers. All of this takes place under an effigy of Old Man Winter, hanging over the dance floor. At midnight the Old Man is cut from the rafters and burned on the bonfire outside, as the crowd sings a rousing a capella rendition of Country Roads. Learn more in Emily Hilliard's Bitter Southerner piece on Helvetia's seasonal celebrations, including Fasnacht: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginiaAnd her piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions on NPRs The Salt: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnacht Also see the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project conducted by the West Virginia Folklife Program in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

18. Fiddler Jesse Milnes plays in the music jam at the Helvetia Star Band Hall

Identifier:
4224.HelvetiaFasnacht.Photo.012.2.6.16
Title:
Fiddler Jesse Milnes plays in the music jam at the Helvetia Star Band Hall
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Old-time music, Festivals, Tourism and the arts, Fiddle tunes, Carnival, Fiddling, Winter festivals, Helvetia (W. Va.), Folk music--West Virginia
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.), Randolph County (W. Va.)
["Every year on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, the town of Helvetia in Randolph County, West Virginia, hosts its Fasnacht celebration, a pre-Lenten mountain Mardi Gras intended both to reinforce Swiss customs for locals and bring much-needed tourist dollars to the town in the sparse mid-winter months.Though the holiday was originally celebrated only by locals in the towns private homes, in the late 1960s, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux restored the holiday as a public celebration. Today, Fasnacht attracts attendees from near and far. The event begins with an open music jam at the Helvetia Star Band Hall or a special sampler plate dinner from the Hutte Restaurant. Then everyone gathers in the Star Band Hall in their homemade papier-mache masks for a masked lampion parade to the Community Hall. At the second hall, there is a mask contest for kids, a square dance called by local callers and accompanied by the Helvetia Star Band, and a treat table of traditional doughnuts and Swiss rosettes and hozablatz made by Diane Betler, Eleanor Betler, and other local bakers. All of this takes place under an effigy of Old Man Winter, hanging over the dance floor. At midnight the Old Man is cut from the rafters and burned on the bonfire outside, as the crowd sings a rousing a capella rendition of Country Roads. Learn more in Emily Hilliard's Bitter Southerner piece on Helvetia's seasonal celebrations, including Fasnacht: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginiaAnd her piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions on NPRs The Salt: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnacht Also see the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project conducted by the West Virginia Folklife Program in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

19. Square dance under the effigy of Old Man Winter in the Helvetia Community Hall

Identifier:
4224.HelvetiaFasnacht.Photo.017.2.6.16
Title:
Square dance under the effigy of Old Man Winter in the Helvetia Community Hall
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Tourism and the arts, Carnival, Helvetia (W. Va.), Folk music--West Virginia, Winter festivals, Square dance music--United States
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["Every year on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday, the town of Helvetia in Randolph County, West Virginia, hosts its Fasnacht celebration, a pre-Lenten mountain Mardi Gras intended both to reinforce Swiss customs for locals and bring much-needed tourist dollars to the town in the sparse mid-winter months.Though the holiday was originally celebrated only by locals in the towns private homes, in the late 1960s, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux restored the holiday as a public celebration. Today, Fasnacht attracts attendees from near and far. The event begins with an open music jam at the Helvetia Star Band Hall or a special sampler plate dinner from the Hutte Restaurant. Then everyone gathers in the Star Band Hall in their homemade papier-mache masks for a masked lampion parade to the Community Hall. At the second hall, there is a mask contest for kids, a square dance called by local callers and accompanied by the Helvetia Star Band, and a treat table of traditional doughnuts and Swiss rosettes and hozablatz made by Diane Betler, Eleanor Betler, and other local bakers. All of this takes place under an effigy of Old Man Winter, hanging over the dance floor. At midnight the Old Man is cut from the rafters and burned on the bonfire outside, as the crowd sings a rousing a capella rendition of Country Roads. Learn more in Emily Hilliard's Bitter Southerner piece on Helvetia's seasonal celebrations, including Fasnacht: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginiaAnd her piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions on NPRs The Salt: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnacht Also see the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project conducted by the West Virginia Folklife Program in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]%

20. Sam Petsonk and Stephanie Tyree waltz at the Helvetia Fasnacht Square Dance

Identifier:
4224.HelvetiaFasnacht.Photo.018.2.6.16
Title:
Sam Petsonk and Stephanie Tyree waltz at the Helvetia Fasnacht Square Dance
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Tourism and the arts, Winter festivals, Fiddle tunes, Square dance music--United States, Folk music--West Virginia, Helvetia (W. Va.), Fiddling, Carnival
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["The Swiss community of Helvetia, West Virginia began hosting its annual ramp supper sometime between 1946-1948 (Helvetia native Ernest Hofer who has been working at the supper for at least 40 years, wasnt sure of the exact date). The event is a fundraiser, benefiting the Helvetia Community Hall Association and the Farm Womens Club. For weeks prior, volunteers, including local 4-H kids, work to wash and freeze 60 bushels of ramps, some of which are dug and donated by locals, and the rest are bought from a digger. On the Friday before the event, male volunteers gather outside to cook 400 lbs. of potatoes in iron kettles over a wood fire, while drinking homemade wine. Women volunteers work in the kitchen, cutting 300 lbs. of ham, making cornbread, cooking Navy beans, and defrosting ramps. The Helvetia Ramp Supper is always held the last Saturday in April and draws visitors from across the state and region. The dinner includes fried and fresh ramps, beans, ham, fried potatoes, applesauce, cornbread, coleslaw, drink, and dessert, which guests eat at long tables in the basement of the Helvetia Community Hall. After dinner, a square dance is held upstairs. The documentation of the Helvetia Ramp Supper is 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/Also see Emily Hilliards piece on Helvetias seasonal celebrations, including the Ramp Supper, via The Bitter Southerner: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginia and read her piece on the Ramp Supper via the West Virginia Folklife blog: https://wvfolklife.org/2016/05/27/rampfingerprints/For more information, visit: http://www.helvetiawv.com/Events/Helvetia_Ramps/Helvetia_Ramps.htm"]%

21. Attendees of the Helvetia Ramp Supper in the Helvetia Community Hall

Identifier:
4224.HelvetiaRampSupper.Photo.002.4.30.16
Title:
Attendees of the Helvetia Ramp Supper in the Helvetia Community Hall
Date:
2016-04-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
foodways, Tourism and the arts, Wild leek, Food habits, Helvetia (W. Va.), Festivals
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)