Bats, Mayors, and Netflix, Oh My!

We woke up to Mike kindly offered to whip up some scrambled eggs for anyone that wanted some. He used some of the five dozen eggs that Wanda’s coworker from the hospital gave to the King’s. The small farm eggs were a mixture of colors and sizes—and were some of the best eggs I’ve had in a while.

A few of us headed to the Kroger’s, in the neighboring town of Smithers across the river, for a quick grocery run. On the way back to the King’s, we had an interesting conversation about the lack of grocery stores on the Montgomery side of the river but the presence of two dollar stores. Yesterday I asked Mike how accessible Kroger’s is, and he said it’s not easy to get to without a car, which definitely can pose a problem for some.

*Morning fog outside Kroger's*

Upon returning, we were thrilled to receive a gift from the King’s and the MCWA: beautiful t-shirts so we can rep the organization after leaving Appalachia.

*Lovely Shelbi modeling the fantastic shirts*

At this point, a group of AmeriCorps volunteers arrived to help us with our afternoon project of digging holes and putting up beams with bat houses attached. The bat houses draw bats to the area, who then keep the mosquito population down. It was fun getting dirty and putting in some hard work to help out the MCWA, as well as getting to know the AmeriCorps volunteers. The volunteers were similar in age to us and were from all over the US. After finishing the project (and some very poor hole digging on my part), we visited the site where the mine drainage is piped into the first limestone pool. Mike discussed some of the less successful methods they’ve employed to clean the water, as well as more successful methods that weren’t financially sustainable without greater monetary resources (which will be further depleted with the loss of the university).

*Jess, Mary-Versa, and some of the AmeriCorps volunteers carrying a beam with a bat house attached*

Upon returning to the house, we were treated to a visit from Montgomery Mayor Greg Ingram. He offered insight into his familiarity with change due to his childhood, and how this makes him a good fit for leading Montgomery through this period of change--some bad but hopefully some good. Some of the big decisions that have negatively impacted the area, or “poison pills” as Mayor Ingram called them, were WVU Tech moving last year and the Valley high school closing within the next year. Some of the positive changes Mayor Ingram is hopeful for includes RiverBend, a two-year boarding community college for adults aging out of the foster home system, the first of its kind in the US, that will be moving into the empty campus left behind by WVUT. The people behind movements like Claim Your State, which call upon creatives to reinvigorate their local communities through the arts, also give him hope for the future of Montgomery. As he put it, “we don’t have money in Appalachia, but we’re still rich.”

*Mayor Ingram speaking with the group*

After a pizza dinner provided courtesy of MCWA, the AmeriCorps group had to return to their current home base. We then settled down to watch Blood on the Mountain, a documentary about the complicated, long history of coal in West Virginia. Following the documentary, Mayor Ingram thanked us for visiting Appalachia and left us with the hope that we won’t soon forget their small town and reminded us that even if we’re having a hard time, “we’re making memories.”

I’m excited to visit mine sites tomorrow, to provide a real-life experience at the mines depicted in the articles we’ve read and the documentary we watched.