On Saturday, December 7th, I helped organize and uphold a unique and ancient English caroling tradition in Elkins, where we recreated this ancient English tradition at the Kump House in order to bless their apple trees, chasing out harmful spirits and waking the trees up for the coming winter so that they will have a bountiful harvest next fall. While this sounds strange, the event itself is more about bringing the wider Elkins community together in an evening of song and creating a fun tradition that will hopefully become a yearly event!
Madeline Ricks is an AmeriCorps member with AFNHA, serving as the Collections Preservation Coordinator for The Augusta Heritage center in Elkins, WV. She has begun writing a new blog series for the Augusta website. Beginning with the African origins of the banjo, Madeline will take readers on a journey through the histories and cultural impacts of the instruments played in West Virginia’s musical traditions.
There are many interesting and unique materials housed in the Upshur County Historical Society Document Repository that have never been displayed in an exhibit. Some materials have been overlooked because, while interesting, they relate to a topic that is too narrow to warrant an entire exhibit. This year’s exhibit gives space for these materials to shine.
On June 19, Pleasant Green Church in Hillsboro underwent two restoration projects in collaboration with the Forest Service, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, AFNHA AmeriCorps, and Cultural Heritage in the Forest. The Forest Service creates partnerships like these within local communities to help support efforts of preservation. This partnership is overwhelmingly meaningful to us here at the Forest and AFNHA - connecting with Black students and sharing with them our state’s history is invaluable to the future of diverse involvement, public awareness, and funding for these sites. There is no West Virginia History without Black History, and it was our honor to share with them this part of their cultural past.
This term in 2023-2024, my involvement with the 4-H History Round-Up project and my participation at 4-H Camp evolved together as the theme of this year’s camp was “A Journey Through 4-H”. The theme took campers through the past and into what may be the future of 4-H in 2115. That faraway date marked the 200-year anniversary of the world’s first 4-H Camp in 1915, “Camp Good Luck”, which took place in Randolph County! This theme gave me the role of putting all the Randolph County 4-H history I’ve learned in my service to direct use.
The Hardy County CVB was seeking ways to encourage responsible tourism. The catch? The position was through the AFNHA’s AmeriCorps program. AmeriCorps? Isn’t that for those young, spirited college graduates seeking experiential learning as they map out their professional paths? What business does a 57-year-old grandmother, semi-retired and still falling short of daily step goals have in applying? Wouldn’t I be taking a grand opportunity away from someone more in need of the experience?
