The Shepherdstown Community Club hosts local and regional artists, artisans and designers for a charming shopping experience at the War Memorial Building in historic downtown Shepherdstown. Discover handmade artful items, including fine art, pottery, wood, stained and fused glass, home & garden decor, specialty foods, jewelry, wearables and accessories. The vendor selection will each weekend. Read the Full Story >>
Shepherdstown
Historic Shepherdstown’s 2020 Holiday Ornament On Sale Now
Shop now for Historic Shepherdstown 6th in a series of Holiday Ornaments. This year features the Shepherdstown Opera House. The ornaments can be purchased in the HSC office by calling 304-876-0910 to make an appointment or they can be purchased on their website. Read the Full Story >>
Support the Shepherdstown Library – Buy A Chance to Win a Bottle of Pappy Van Winkle
Shepherdstown Liquors is honoring the memory of Mohsen Sadeghzadeh and continuing a tradition of offering a rare bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Straight Bourbon Whiskey in a holiday raffle with all proceeds to support the Shepherdstown Public Library. This 20 year-old bottle is valued at over $2,000. Tickets available until drawing to be held at Read the Full Story >>
Thomas Shepherd Inn Reopens
In the spring of 2020, Bryan and Cathy were pondering the implications of the unfolding pandemic, and Cathy’s employer decided her days as a salesperson on the road were at an end. A friend called to tell them that the Thomas Shepherd Inn was coming on the market. Then another friend called. And another. They arranged to visit the property on the day it was first open for showing. Standing in the back yard after walking through, they had already decided to make an offer. Read the Full Story >>
Music Performance Transposed for COVID-19
The Music School at Shepherd University makes a point to be a highly personalized experience for its students. In contrast to many programs at larger institutions, Shepherd is focused on undergraduates and emphasizes the opportunities for its students to study directly with faculty. Unfortunately, the very adjectives that one would use to describe music programs in general and Shepherd’s program specifically — intimate, group, performance, together — also describe the activities the health department advises against during the pandemic health crisis. Read the Full Story >>
Breaking Ground
The multi-year effort to build a new facility for the Shepherdstown Public Library takes a big step forward with the October 30 ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony at the new location adjacent to the Clarion Hotel property just outside of the Town boundary.  Read the Full Story >>
Navigating A Difficult Road
The Observer asked Stephen Willingham to explore how the local public school system is managing through the current public health crisis. The author interviewed the Superintendent and also spoke with teachers about their experiences in the classroom and online. Read the Full Story >>
An Artist’s Journey
It took a few years of wandering for Tim Clayton to discover his passion for painting. When describing his path, Tim focuses on the evolution of his approach to art and his style of expression. Read the Full Story >>
Sparking A Converstation: Local Farmers Discuss Large-Scale Solar Development
Pastoral landscapes may be easy on the eyes, but farming them is a hard life. Todd Hough of Oakwood Farm has been working the land since he was a child. He and his brother are the fourth generation to run the family farm in the Kabletown District of Jefferson County.  Read the Full Story >>
Keeping the Stage Lights On at the Black Box Youth Playhouse
Whether or not you consider yourself an artist, there is no doubt that art touches your life. The arts tell our story, they are a beautiful legacy. Engaging people from an early age in the arts enhances their development by opening their eyes to different experiences, different voices, and uniquely personal ways for them to express their own dreams and visions. Read the Full Story >>
The Water Connecting Us
One hundred years ago, underneath the Old Opera House in Charles Town, locals and tourists danced the night away beside a crystal-clear lake inside a cavern filled with orchestral tones. Today, the Lakeland Caverns cave is quiet, all entries sealed off from the public.  Read the Full Story >>
Taking Time To See The Beauty
A lot of what happens in county government focuses on daily operations but the long term payoff comes from educated citizens who have the skills to participate in a twenty-first century economy that is both local and global in the same place. Read the Full Story >>
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.  Read the Full Story >>
Online, Distant, Together, Ready
Shepherd University is moving forward with virtual and in-person instruction starting August 24, with an accelerated semester that reclaims Labor Day and Fall Break as instructional days and ends just before Thanksgiving. Read the Full Story >>
Perspectives from a Local Solar Professional
For the first article in this series, we invited Danny Chiotos to research and address some questions about the nature of the specific solar generation project that initiated the request for proposed zoning amendment ZTA 19-03. Read the Full Story >>