Looking to enjoy some fresh air? Stop by The Black Dog Coffee Company at 8001 Charles Town Road in Shenandoah Junction on Saturday, September 12 from 11am to 5pm for an outdoor “Makers Market.”
Community
Uncovering History & Reconnecting a Community
Following the abolition of slavery, African American communities were rapidly established throughout Jefferson County. Churches were cornerstones of these communities — serving as houses of worship, schools, and community centers. The African American community in Kearneysville was known as Hartstown.
Gearing Up For Fun
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Peddle & Paddle in Shepherdstown is providing multiple avenues to get outside and be active while social distancing.
Temporary Quarters: Park Association Pop-Up Book Store
The Harpers Ferry Park Association bookstore in lower town has been closed since March due to COVID-19, but starting in September, the organization will have a pop-up bookstore outside on the green across the street from the bookstor.
The Vintage Lady Doesn’t Sit Still
Cindy Dunn has owned The Vintage Lady shop since 2004, and she’s seen a lot of people walk through the door in the past sixteen years. That changed when the pandemic shut down her shop in March.
Believing in the Community
For Libby Powell, it started with a carnival-type popcorn popper that her kids got her as present. Thinking it might be fun to repurpose the popper to roast coffee, Libby began to experiment a quarter cup of beans at a time.
Keeping the Vibe on German Street
In 1995, Garth Janssen found an opportunity to realize his own vision when he saw a space being vacated by another shop-keeper and opened the Lost Dog. For 25 years, that vision was his life, his family, his community, his art.
Building Hartstown
Following the end of the Civil War, formerly enslaved men, women and children developed many self-sustaining communities based on proximity to employment opportunities. Hartstown (or Harts Town) was the name of one such community that developed in Kearneysville, West Virginia.
Remembering Hartstown
Appalachia is often viewed through a narrow lens. The stories of Black communities throughout the region are often left untold or simply overlooked. Acknowledging these communities and preserving their stories helps us to truly understand the broad patterns of the cultural landscape in which we live today.
The Challenges of Feeding Kids During the Pandemic
In 2007, Diana Wall found herself called to a mission. Working with Community Combined Ministries, she founded a program to source, assemble and distribute food packages through the Jefferson and Berkeley County School Districts. Kidz Power Pacs (KPP for short) is designed to provide children food for weekends and school breaks, filling a gap not served by weekday, in-school nutrition programs funded by the government.
Honor D Fine Shoes & Hats
March was planned as a grand opening for a new street-front space on German Street in Shepherdstown. Honor Thomas had orders for spring merchandise being delivered to the freshly-painted shop and plans for an event-filled spring for her regular customers. “When the shut-down restrictions hit I stayed home for a week. I have a daughter who lives in Queens, in New York City, and hearing the stories from there, it seemed frivolous to be thinking about my hats and shoes.”
Hamilton’s Tavern 1840: Creating A New Space in the Community
Chef Jeremiah Brooks and his partner in business & life, Anthony Brooks, were looking forward to the spring of 2020 when crowds would begin returning to the small restaurant they had opened in historic Harpers Ferry the previous July. With a small dining room and patio, and an even smaller kitchen, Hamilton’s Tavern 1840 was an intimate space guaranteed to draw in travelers and locals alike
400 Years, 8 Minutes, 46 Seconds
George Floyd was murdered on May 25. The next day protesters took to the streets in Minneapolis, and every day since then protests have roared through the streets of every state in the United States. Around the globe, people have united to echo this call for change, not only in support of the protesters in America but also to call-out and address similar issues in their own societies. After countless years of activism, a majority of the American population is finally beginning to see through the literal smoke.
The Challenges and Hope of a Food Pantry
For community services organizations, the pandemic & economic crisis have forced drastic changes to operations and funding – at the same time they are called to meet needs on a scale they’ve never experienced.
Why Would a Woman Hike the Entire Appalachian Trail at 50? Why Not?
In the spring of 2012, Shepherdstown resident Annie Wisecarver decided to celebrate a milestone event—her 50th birthday—by setting off on a six-month, 2,000-mile-plus hike. You might have heard of the place: the Appalachian Trail.