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Healing Land Skills Workshop Weekend planned Sept. 16-17
STEUBENVILLE -- The Healing Land, an Ohio-based nonprofit dedicated to providing ongoing education and mentorship in regenerative farm practices as well as homesteading skills, will be holding a skills workshop weekend on Sept. 16 and 17 in Steubenville.
Farm workshops on Sept. 16 will be held at local farms, while skills workshops day on Sept. 17 will be at Four Seasons Community Center, the former Pleasant Hill Elementary School building off state Route 213, Steubenville.
"During a time when Americans are concerned about the rising cost of food and supply chain issues, there has been a surge in interest in learning ways to become more self-sufficient," a spokesperson noted. "There's also been a movement to return to community-based shopping, as the importance of supporting our local food producers and craftsmen has become more apparent. There is a new nonprofit based in Jefferson County that is seeking to meet both these needs, and they're helping people on both a local and national scale."
After selling out its first conference in April, with more than 300 attendees from 20 states, "the founders knew there was a great need for more events," a news release notes.
"After selling out three more small intensive workshops held on local farms, the Healing Land is excited to host a Skills Workshop Weekend from Sept. 16-17 in Steubenville. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn a variety of skills from local instructors," the release goes on to note, adding that there are workshop options for adults and children age 5 and older.
Adult workshop options include timber frame build, cheese making, knife making, soap making, wool skirting, canning, spoon carving, rotational grazing, butchering, pottery, water supply, pickling and several carpentry builds. Children's workshops include painting, sewing, carpentry, crochet and pottery.
The event will include a variety of local craft vendors and food vendors for lunch and dinner onsite. Visit www.thehealingland.com for information and for tickets.
Last chance to win item with visit to Richmond museum
RICHMOND -- The summer open houses organized at the Crew House Museum by the Richmond Community Historical Society end Sunday and so, too, the opportunity for visitors to enter their name for a drawing for a Richmond pottery crock.
The museum is located at 34 W. Main St., and Sunday's open house will run from noon to 4 p.m.
The drawing will be conducted at the end of Sunday's open house. The winner need not be present.
The museum features a variety of town memorabilia and includes a second floor dedicated to Jefferson Union High School items of interest. A more recent display showcases wedding gowns of yesteryear, accessories and photos.
Various items are available for purchase, including Richmond pottery mugs and history books.
Admission to the museum is free with donations welcomed.
The organization's next meeting will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Richmond United Methodist Church fellowship hall. Plans for the annual Quaker Day celebration on Sept. 24 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. will be discussed.
For information, contact Phil Judy, historical society president, at (740) 765-4534.
Local authors to be on hand at Toronto Main Street Museum
TORONTO -- The Main Street Museum in Toronto, located at 210 Main St., is gearing up for the Toronto Art Festival which will be held during the Labor Day weekend along North Third, Market and Main streets and in the city's Gazebo Commons.
"The world is opening up again, and people are traveling, shopping and taking time to do the things they have missed so much for the past couple years," noted Carolyn Walker, museum president. "The museum is no different, and we have planned the hosting of three authors that weekend who will discuss and sell their books."
The museum will be open Sept. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Sept 4 from noon to 4:30 p.m. It will be closed on Labor Day. The authors will be on hand both days.
Anong them will be Mary Zwierzchowski, assistant reference librarian at the Mary H. Weir Public Library in Weirton, who collaborated with former Weirton resident Jane Kraina to write "Secrets in the Mist: The History of Brown's Island, Weirton, WV." The book was released during what is the 50th anniversary year of the Brown's Island coke plant explosion on Dec. 15, 1972, in which 19 men died and as many as 40 to 60 were seriously injured.
"Secrets in the Mist" is "a book about the history of Browns Island from its earliest beginnings when the Shawnee used it and left Petroglyphs carved on stones to the many families who lived and farmed the land," Walker noted.
"Familiar Toronto names include the Stedmans, Jewetts, Mary Cooper, who married Toronto mayor Samuel Taylor, and the Holsinger family. They tell of family fun times when many residents had camps on the island and enjoyed boating, skiing and picnics."
Bob Brandt, a local historian who has collected many artifacts from the island, will be on hand at the museum as well.
Tom Zielinsky, author of "Zalia, Hancock County, WV-Rediscovering a Lost Community," meanwhile, tells the story of a community across the river from the Gem City, called by several names -- Freeman's Landing, East Toronto and Zalia.
"It was an unincorporated community that grew up along the 'Brickyard Bend' and so as the name of the train station changed so did the name of the community," Walker noted. "While it stretched from Holbart's Run to Kings Creek nothing is left but the stories, which Zielinsky tells from interviews, pictures and newspaper articles throughout the book. You will read about the Shuster's ferry boat, the Sherrard, that left the Market Street wharf carrying people to work each day and those from Zalia to Toronto to shop, visit or maybe go to the opera house in the evening for entertainment."
Walker predicted that "River Rats," a story of growing up in the 1960s, is shaping up to be a hit with Gem City readers. "The author, Bob Petras, already is well known for writing a blog, Gem City Gems, https://599fairviewheightsdr.blogspot.com."
POW museum to present
second program on Sept. 17
WELLSBURG -- The American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Museum and Education Center on Sept. 17 will present the second in a series of programs focused on various aspects of servicemen who were captured while defending the Philippine Islands against Japanese invaders during World War II.
At 1 p.m. in the River Room of the Brooke County Public Library, museum director Jim Brockman will recreate conditions experienced by the prisoners of war who were transported in Japanese vessels that came to be known as "hell ships."
Located within the library, the museum is believed to have the largest collection of items related to the experiences of those who served in the Philippine Islands during the war.
Funded by a $5,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the series will continue with a focus on the POWs' liberation on Oct. 15; and the lives of the veterans after they returned home on Oct. 22.
Each program will be held at 1 p.m. in the River Room and is free.
Brooke County Library to waive fines in September
WELLSBURG -- In observance of National Library Card Sign-Up Month, the Brooke County Public Library will be waiving fines for overdue materials in September.
Currently the library doesn't fine for overdue books, audiobooks and compact discs, but there is a fine for overdue video discs.
It's also a good time for those who haven't been to the library in a while to learn about its variety of materials and services, including help with resumes and online job searches and learning to use computers and other e-devices.