by Claire Stuart
Dana Jenkins, director of the South Jefferson Public Library in Summit Point, has a commute that most Panhandle residents would envy. It’s all of two blocks from her home to work. But it hasn’t always been that close.
The library celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009, but for most of those years it was housed in a tiny building on the road to Charles Town. Property in the center of Summit Point was donated for the new building, which opened in 2004. It’s a bright, cheerful brick building in …

By Claire Stuart
“Why do people like llamas?” Susan Holloway answered her own question: “I guess it’s because of the expressions on their faces.”
With their long, regal necks; their huge, long-lashed eyes; and their mouths that seem to be perpetually smiling, llamas are simply lovable. Several handcrafted llama dolls, curly coats fashioned from natural llama hair, ears poking through Andean-style hats, smiled from their perches on Cheryl Sonnabend’s living room furniture.
Holloway, Sonnabend, and Elaine Fields make up the Sonnallama Fiber Group. They have been working together for five years, knitting and …

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” younger brother was Peter Burr. “So,” she said, “he was my 5th-great uncle.”
Keeler, who majored in history at Shepherd and West Virginia universities, has a particular interest in cultural history. With a background in museum …

By Claire Stuart
There is no doubt about where nurse Michelle Gold-man, executive director of the Eastern Panhandle Free Clinic, stands on health care. “It’s a moral issue,” she said, “for a nation to take care of its citi-zens. It’s not just a nice thing to do. It’s a life-and-death thing. We decided that everyone is entitled to an education, and we have public schools. Isn’t everyone entitled to health care?” But Goldman isn’t just about talk. A decade ago, she and an-other nurse, Leona Cook, saw a need and decided …

By Claire Stuart
“I love my kitchen, and I love what I do,” says Cheryl Webb, nutrition supervisor at the Ranson Senior Center. “When I came here, my goal was to feed everybody. I want to be sure that everybody gets to have a hot, nutritious meal, regardless of their income. For some people, it’s their only hot meal of the day.”
The suggested donation for lunch is $2 for those 60 and over and $4 for those under 60, but no one who cannot pay is turned away.
Outreach coordinator Freda Slack …

A Visit to the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture
by Claire Stuart
With all of the emphasis on healthy eating in recent years, fish has become an important part of the diets of millions of people. Research that will help to bring healthy, productive fish to the table is going on right here in Jefferson County at the National Center for Cool and Cold Water Aquaculture (CCWA) in Leetown.
CCWA is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. “We are a recent addition to USDA,” said Rexroad …

Barbara Bergman’s studio is full of colorful Peruvian textiles and bags of wool, fond mementoes of the years her family spent in that country. They are also part of her current efforts to help Shipibo Indian women preserve their traditional handcrafts while earning a living. When her oldest son proposed a family vacation in Peru this past spring, she was happy to see her four-year old granddaughter introduced to foreign travel, particularly to the country in which her family had spent so much time.
She and her husband, Roland, a geography …