People often pride themselves in having minds of their own; but what about places? A good character study can enthrall, mesmerize -- a strong portrayal of personality can stun, captivate, intrigue. But who says the main character must be a person? Why not let a bustling city, yarn-spinning town or lazy locale take center stage -- play the protagonist, and even tell a success story?
The Greenbrier Valley in southeastern West Virginia, home to old-time mountaineers, middle-class business folks, lawyers, academicians, and people of rather high net worth in search of some peace and quiet in the pure mountain air -- is a place of simple, rare beauty with much to tell. For this reason, it is also a haven for creative artists. Writers, musicians, painters, sculptors, photographers, and makers of crafts from the U.S. as well as abroad come to experience the poignancy, joy, laugher and sorrow reflected in the local folklore, mountain music, and breathtaking colors of hazy s unrise and brilliant sunset mixed with the vibrant hues of the countryside terrain.
Just a few years ago, a visit to the county schools was a truly unique experience. The student population was made up of town kids, kids from farms throughout the county, and the children of families who had lived sparse, but enduring existences in sometimes isolated mountain regions for many years. Mountaineer customs were different. Mountain language was fun -- but it took some getting used to, and much was never explained, or left unsaid. But, those shy, silent children had much to tell. One current local resident, now a teacher in her 50's, remembers being somewhat in awe of one quiet, wide-eyed boy who told of his family's home being part wooden house with a red-dirt floor, and part cave; but his older brother had recently installed a color TV set. -- The teacher, then a schoolgirl, was jealous at the time, since her family still had a black-and-white TV at home.... Now the school s are large and consolidated, with a quality of sophistication both built-in and acquired.
In years past, the railroads were still very important to the area. With regular and frequent stops at the Victorian style wooden stations in White Sulphur Springs and Ronceverte, the next valley town to Lewisburg, they carried lumber, coal, cattle, produce and passengers en route to neighboring or distant locations. Residents say it was always comforting to hear the train whistle, foggy on the misted night air -- and much fun to get to take a trip in the jostling, clacking passenger cars. -- Last year, some visitors took Amtrak from White Sulphur to New York, and while waiting at the station for the train to arrive, a group of well-dressed guests at the Greenbrier Hotel were happily out on the tracks placing nickels and quarters on the open rails, so the incoming train could flatten the coins into pendants. (The onlookers' main concern was that the train would flatten the guest s, instead!) But, they all scurried back to the platform and safety, just in time.
Braver souls used to fly in small commercial planes, or even two-or-four-seaters, from the small airport near White Sulphur and the Greenbrier Hotel. The only problem there was that on foggy, snowy or ice-coated days, you might not make it over the first mountain ridge; and incoming planes often passed-up landing, heading on to the next available landing field. Old-timers tell tales of the first airplane owners in the area. -- Often farmers or landowners with a curiosity about piloting a plane, but completely untrained, they would purchase a plane, ask for directions and general flying instructions; then get in the plane and fly home -- or at least what they perceived to be home. Needless to say, some of them finally got there by another means of transportation, and much later than expected. -- But well-wishing neighbors would leave lanterns burning outside, well into the night, hopin g to bring each fledgling pilot down to earth safely. Now, the modern Greenbrier Valley Airport near Lewisburg has capacity for large commercial jets, as well as small, two-engine models. And no one pilots without a legitimate license! (But the fog and ice can still impede one's progress over the first mountain ridge on snowy winter days. And sometimes you decide this side of the mountain looks good enough, change your plans, and stay home.)
White Sulphur Springs hosts the Greenbrier Hotel with its healing natural springs water, golf and tennis and horseback riding facilities, cool rolling grounds and tall, overhanging maples, oaks and evergreens that bow and lean close in the breeze -- a tease to the curious newcomer, full of questions and wishing the trees could talk. The Greenbrier now sports a growing community of elegant, luxurious new homes on the well-landscaped site of its former golf course; while just a hillside or two away, you can find a cozy, well-season ed log cabin, a bit worn, but still in use. And on the front porch is an elderly, white-haired man playing banjo with his small great-granddaughter beside him, strumming the strings of a cherry wood dulcimer. While from the distant interstate, you hear faint, persistent rhythms of rock music and modern country songs drifting out from the open windows of passing cars. And even the Greenbrier Ghost from centuries past comes forward in time to make current appearances for delighted (and spooked) audiences at the Greenbrier Valley Theater productions!
Yes, the Greenbrier Valley has a creative mind of its own -- embracing the past, present and future in a single gesture, smile, word or glance, as it reaches out warmly to greet you. For, after all, an enchanted visiting creative artist could become a productive artist in residence -- and the wind whispering softly through the trees will try to persuade you so.
Ellen Gilmer, copyright 2005
elgilmer@yahoo.com
Ellen Gilmer is a writer-composer and artist who lives in New York City. Crystal Clear Artforms, her creative arts business, is dedicated to the development and promotion of Thematic Arts (creative expression in multiple art forms). Ellen's work includes copywriting and article writing, and she is a member of the Agora International Press Corps / AWAI Travel Writers Group. She has published two books: La Belle Famille (a novel); and Free Style Run of the Heart (a book of dramatic monologues with songs). Both books were published by The Pentland Press Ltd./ Carnegie Publishing, England. The Website address for Crystal Clear Artforms is: http:http://www.home.earthlink.net/~elgilmer
Author:: Ellen Gilmer
Keywords:: artists' haven, artistic locale, home for creative artists, creative arts, West Virginia arts
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