The Eastern Panhandle Chapter of the American Red Cross, in an effort to protect both our volunteers and clients, will be opening a shelter at Jefferson High School to provide a safe and warm environment for Jefferson County residents who may be suffering from long-term power and/or water outages.  This shelter will open at 11AM [...]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Think It’s Cold Here? Come to Almost, Maine
Washington High School Theatre Department performs Almost, Maine on Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13, 2010. In this John Cariani romantic comedy, residents of remote, mythical town Almost, Maine are falling in and out of love in unexpected, often hilarious ways. This “midwinter’s night tale” is perfect [...]

By Steve Chase
A few weeks ago, I grabbed all of my CDs and boxed them up. Stacked and racked in our family room, hundreds of the darned things had sat idle since I ripped them into my iTunes database. a few years back. I bought only two CDs last year—nationwide CD sales are down by [...]

BY Christian and David Asam
 
David: Have you ever asked yourself, why are they pouring that wine into a pitcher, or why is that arrogant snob swirling the wine in his glass so vigorously? Well, there actually is a good reason. They are aerating the wine. The obvious next question is, why would you want to [...]

By Claire Stuart
 
When Maggie Keeler started volunteering at the Peter Burr Living History Farm in Shenandoah Junction some 13 years ago, she didn’t know she was related to the builder of the historic home—although she did know there was a Burr somewhere in her family history. Subsequent research uncovered the fact that her “5th-great grandfather’s” [...]

By Davic Lillard
West Virginia was once a leading producer of maple syrup. Today, even though 80 percent of the Mountain State is covered with hardwoods—about 110,000 square miles of them—West Virginia barely registers in syrup production. Neal Super’s Mountain State Maple is starting a homegrown sugarin’ renaissance here in the relative flatlands of Jefferson County. [...]

By Roger Munro
“If every house in the United States were to improve using Energy Star home sealing you could shut down 90 power plants.” — Steve Thomas of “This Old House.”
Odds have it that you are reading this edition of The Observer in a conventionally built home and you think your energy bills are too [...]

by Jeff Feldman
Some people wait for the stars to align before initiating action; for Barbara Humes, it had more to do with the Sun. Humes had been waiting eight years to see solar electric panels raised on the roof of her Harpers Ferry’s home. In late 2009, the pieces finally fell into place, and renewable [...]