Woodsdale United

  A group of concerned residents of Woodsdale have a facebook page called Woodsdale United. It will keep you up on the actions of the City Council and Planning Commission regarding the zone change from residential to commercial on Stratford Hill. The owner is a greedy, get-rich guy who doesn't really care about the effects on the adjoining properties. He refuses to disclose his plans for the hill but has already started timbering and then plans to quarry limestone down 200ft so virtually the top of the hill will be removed.

A disgrace!

   Stratford Hill, the scene of some of our best childhood memories is being timbered! Runoff will soon affect those residents along Edgwood Street. Kevin Coyne, the developer who is trying to get a zoning change intends to QUARRY the hill. In other words...mountaintop removal.
  If you are interested in this, join Woodsdale United on Facebook for updates.

Woodsdale Kids Picnic

   Sorry folks,  but the Woodsdale Kids picnic this year will be August 31 instead of the 10th due to circumstances beyond our control. Hope you will join us for this incredible reunion. Last year was wonderful with lots of new-old faces appearing. This year I will not be doing the slide show, but may just let it run in the background so you can see the old photos. Please feel free to bring friends and family, a dish to share, old pictures, and good stories.

Stratford Hill Saved.....for now

Thanks to vigilant residents of Woodsdale, a developer who intended to take the top off of Stratford Hill was halted. There was standing room only at the Planning Commission who voted 6-1 NOT to allow the zone change which would allow the devastation. Kevin Coyne, the developer refused to disclose what his plans were and presented no environmental impact studies or other evidence that he had done his homework or even CARED what effects this would have on the many residents along Edgwood street. Deforestation causes run-off problems that could have been immense in this case.
  As residents architects, foresters, and an attorney all spoke to the Commisssion against this change in zoning while 125 Woodsdalers watched. There was cheering and applause when the results were announced.
   Well done residents of Woodsdale. Please don't let the hill ever be destroyed...it holds so many memories and serves as a backdrop to our idyllic neighborhood.

Stratford Hill May Disappear!

    
The Wheeling City Council votes today on whether to change the zoning of Stratford Hill from residential to commercial. If commercial development is allowed, they intend to take the whole top off the hill. No environmental impact studies have been done on this. If denuded, the hill will cause major run-off into the houses on Edgwood Strett as far up as Lorraine Terrace.
  Thank goodness, the people of Woodsdale intend to go to this meeting an protest. I'll keep you informed.

Magazine Features Woodsdale Kids

Goldenseal's March issue has an article about Woodsdale Kids with photos. Copies can be had by subscription. This is a fine magazine that features stories from all over West Virginia. It is produced by the WV Dept of Culture and history and you can subscribe for $20 per year at:

                                Goldenseal
                                The Culture Center
                                1900 Kanawha Blvd. East
                                 Charleston, WV 25305-9959        E-mail:chgoldenseal@wv.gov

               yes, they do take Visa and Master Charge.

 Our folk heritage is unique and deserves to be preserved. If you are a homesick West Virginian, you will find your fill of stories here.

Hootenany

     I recently resurrected an old newspaper "Society" page from 1962 which featured members of a group who got together on Friday nights at different houses to play folk music which was just becoming generally known to the public thanks to the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters, and Bob Dylan.
   The pictures were taken at the home of Pat and Fritz Temple of Warwood and included local kids like Scott Smith, Keith Maillard, myself, Maxanne and David McMillan, Jay Stein, John Bedwenick, Eric Hutchison and of course Kit, Ellen , and Anne Temple. Some were college kids home for the holidays and some were high schoolers. Several played guitar or banjo. Everyone who attended had to bring and teach a "new" folk song to the group. The parents provided the food and usually joined in the fun. This group brought together kids from Warwood, Oglebay, Elm Grove, the Island, Woodsdale, and other parts of town.
  The college guys would bring records they had found at the cities where their colleges were located. This is where I first heard of Joan Baez , Woody Guthrie, and Bob Dylan (whose voice I felt at the time left a lot to be desired).
   I remember these idyllic days well and was amazed to learn that many of the group had become professors or writers or both (like Keith Maillard). The sense of camaraderie and friendship was wonderful and the parents were proud to host these groups. As one father quoted in the article stated, "Well, at least they are not out stealing hubcaps!".
  My love of folk music has continued to this day and I have taught guitar for 35 years. I still love listening to it and talking about it with my expert friend Stuart Rubenstein in California. There was a  nightclub in Los Angeles when I lived there in 1965 called the Troubador that featured the greatest in folk music...Miriam Makeba, Hoyt Axton, and others....I recall seeing Linda Ronstadt there with her group The Stone Ponies.
   At a memorial service for Pat Temple who died at 92 this week, I was re-united with her son Kit and daughter Anne and showed them the article. Pat was a teacher at Warwood High, a notable photographer, a world traveler and bird watcher, and served the community by volunteering her time at the Nature Center (now the Schrader Center).
   It was wonderful to talk about the fun we had at these Hootenanies and how strange it was that it brought together kids from all over town.