Southwest Virginia Parks

The weatherman has finally promised Southwest Virginia a weekend with sun and  temperatures in the 50’s, and  I find myself thinking of all the ways to enjoy the weekend.  I want to enjoy it to the fullest. 

What does that mean to you?  Possibly a relaxing walk along a winding trail is a great way to let go of stress. Bring out the bikes for the whole family and listen to the kids giggle as they ride along  and of course you have to include hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill. 

If you simply can’t avoid the daunting tasks around the house during the day, then the Southwest Virginia Museum State Park's First Saturday Community Coffee House, may suit you better.   Bring the family out on Saturday evening, March 6 at 7p.m. to a relaxing atmosphere full of stories, songs, and even a few surprises for you and your family.  Be sure to get there by 6:45 p.m. so you don’t miss a minute of this refreshing program.
 

On Sunday afternoon ,  a Shape Note Singing program will be held on Sunday March 7 at at Natural Tunnel State Park beginning at 2 p.m.  This program will teach you to sing four-part harmony without instruments and no experience is required.  There will be plenty of time before and after the program to enjoy and the afternoon of sunshine.

It doesn’t matter what your interests are, you can find them in a Virginia State Park.

The Friends of Hungry Mother will again be sponsoring Hungry Mother State Park’s Fall Fear Bike Race on Oct 24, 2009.  Racers will pick from 3 categories – beginners, sport, expert/pro.  There is a division for men and women in each category.  Each of the three courses is new in 2009. 

The main route will go in the reverse direction on the Lake Trail. 

The Sport Category will do a figure-8 type loop with the CCC Trail and the Expert/Pro Category will be using Raiders Run Trail, Old Shawnee, and Molly’s Knob Trails. 

The Beginner loop will be just less than 6 miles, the Sport will be approximately 10 miles and the Expert/Pro will be approximately 12 miles.              

Pre-registration is open until 11 am Friday, Oct. 23, 2009.  On race day, registration will be from 8:00 – 9:45 am, the pre-race meeting at 9:45 am and the race beginning at 10:00 am.  The event is sponsored by the Friends of Hungry Mother, Hungry Mother State Park, Arnold’s Exxon, Adventure Bikes of Wytheville, and R&R Station and Lucky Dog Deli of Marion. 

For more information on the race please call 276-781-7400 or visit the website.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a mountain dulcimer?  Or how a beekeeper keeps from getting stung?  Would you like to learn how to make a corn shuck doll or a hunting knife, just like your ancestors did? 

On Saturday, September 19  12:00 noon to 5:00 PM, come to the Southwest Virginia Museum’s Folk Life Festival and visit with area artisans who can answer your questions and demonstrate the skills necessary to practice a variety of traditional mountain crafts.
 

Exhibitors will display their goods and share their expertise in quilting, carving, metal working, instrument making, wood-turning, beekeeping, corn shuck crafts and more.  There will be a hands-on children’s area where kids of all ages can try butter churning, weaving and quilting; old-time games and children’s crafts will also be available. 
 

At 2:00 PM, Tyler Hughes and the Generation Gap will perform a variety of old-time, country and bluegrass tunes on traditional mountain instruments such as the banjo, mandolin, autoharp, guitar, and mountain dulcimer.
 

All of the day’s activities are free and open to the public.  For more information, please call the museum at 276-523-1322. 

Submitted by Forrest Atwood


         

 

The guests and staff of the weekly “Canoe the New” program at Hungry Mother State Park were in the company of celebrities Tuesday. “Big Tom” Buchanan and Lex Van Den Berghe of CBS’s Survivor fame attended the program with their families. “Big Tom” lives just across the mountain in the community of Rich Valley with his wife Sandy. Lex who resides in Santa Cruz, California, was visiting his Survivor ally this week. The two became friends while appearing on Survivor Africa and the Survivor All-Stars. During Survivor Africa, which aired in 2001, the two held a close alliance which carried them all the way to the final four. The pair also appeared on Survivor All-Stars which aired in 2004, where both made it to the final merge and onto the jury. Unfortunately neither won the million dollars.

The competition this day however, was who could catch the most smallmouth bass and who could keep their canoe afloat! The fishing contest ended in a dead heat with both contestants landing two fish. As for the boating contest, Lex prevailed as “Big Tom” went down with his ship within sight of the take-out point. All in all the whole group enjoyed a beautiful day on the scenic New River.

The park conducts “Canoe the New” programs each Tuesday June thru August. Trips for groups can be booked other days of the week according to staff availability. If you would like to schedule a trip down the river, please call the Hungry Mother State Park office at (276) 781-7400.
 

Hungry Mother State Park will be partnering with Promised Land Animal Rescue on July 3, 2009,  to bring Waggin’ at the Lake. 

It is the newest community event in Marion, VA.  The event is a dog show featuring 15 categories including Best Senior (8 years or older), Cutest Pup (4 months – 1 year), Best Eyes, Best Trick, and of course a Pet/Handler Look-alike category. 

The cost is $2 per dog per category or $25 per dog for all categories.  All participating dogs must be non-aggressive and spayed or neutered.  According to Virginia State Park policy, all dogs must be kept on a 6’ leash.  Registration will be held at Hungry Mother State Park beginning at 5:30 pm on the day of the show.  Waggin at the Lake will be held at the Boat Ramp Area of the park (off of Mitchell Valley Rd). 

There will be treats available to purchase for both human and canines.  There will also be a raffle with prizes ranging from Barter Theater Tickets to a tent for your pet.   All proceeds from Waggin’ at the Lake will benefit Promised Land Animal Rescue.  

Promised Land Animal Rescue is a no-kill animal shelter in Atkins, VA. Their mission is to provide love and care to neglected, abused or homeless animals.

“With the love and support from our community we have made some BIG steps in the creation of this rescue,” said president of Promised Land Animal Rescue.”
 

For more information about this event, please call Amy Atwood at 2760-781-7412 or Katie Ellis at 276-685-6310.

In 2001, Hungry Mother State Park hosted it’s first Youth Conservation Corp (YCC) crew.  No one knew exactly what to expect.  It didn’t take long for the crewmembers to bond with the park staff. 

Each day of the program was filled with a new challenge, a new excitement, and a new awakening.  The look on their faces as they conquered each new project rewarded the staff as much or more than the crewmembers themselves.  

Most years since 2001, Hungry Mother has been a host site for a YCC crew. Regardless of the specific projects, one goal the staff continued throughout the years was to give the crew projects they could take pride in and would be able to return to the park one day with their own family and show off a lasting project. 

On June 21, 2009, Hungry Mother State Park will host another crew of youth wanting to make a difference in their world.  This year’s group will clear corridors on two trails, stain Hungry Mother’s environmental education facilities, install split rail fence, participate in a lake shore clean up, do some trail work and help with environmental programming including the Great American Backyard Campout.  The group will also attend park programs like ‘Trick Your Stick” where they will make their own walking sticks, Music in the Park which highlights local music groups, and they will Canoe the New River with the staff of Hungry Mother. 

The three weeks spent in the parks are not easy weeks.  However, many crewmembers of the past have said the experience teaches them about nature, others, but mainly about themselves. 

EVERYBODY NEEDS BEAUTY AS WELL AS BREAD, PLACES TO PLAY IN AND PRAY IN, WHERE NATURE MAY HEAL AND GIVE STRENGTH TO BODY AND SOUL. 
~JOHN MUIR

The Youth Conservation Corp is a program where youth ages 14-17 are given the opportunity to come into one of Virginia’s State Parks to live and work for 3 weeks.  Each crew consists of 10-12 youth and at least 2 supervisors and an intern.  Upon graduation each participant is given a stipend for their work. 
 

Throughout the year the 5th grade classes at Marion Intermediate School, Marion, VA have been working on qualities that make up good character.  All 5th graders and their parents were invited to Hemlock Haven at Hungry Mother State Park to celebrate the accomplishments of the 5th graders at the first Character Day Picnic.  These are the comments of just a few of the students.
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Yesterday at Character Day at Hemlock Haven, I leaned about good sportsmanship at a game of kickball.  Teamwork at a game of human juggle.  Honesty at a game of trustwalk and that one was also trustworthiness.  Caring is when my friend and I played a game with rackets and birdeys.  Also we got our graduation certificates.  We had fun.
          Angelica

What I learned on our trip was trustworthiness, character, teamwork.  We played kickball and learned about sportsmanship.  It helped me to learn about all these.  I think it also helped everybody else learn as well, because of how people acted I know it helped.  This is a good idea because of what it did for us and everyone had a lot of fun.
          Jeremy

When I went to Hungry Mother for the 5th grade field trip at Hemlock Haven I learned about trustworthiness, responsibility, teamwork, communication, caring, honesty, sportsmanship, and accomplishment.  When we did the trust walk we learned about trustworthiness.
          Cody

When the 5th grade class went to Hemlock Haven.  I learned about trustworthiness, responsibility, and teamwork.  They had fun games for us to play.  It was very fun!
My favorite activity was kickball.  We had to show sportsmanship and teamwork.  Next it was human juggle.  It was so fun!  We learned teamwork.  I learned a lot!
          Lakyn

Yesterday at Character Day at Hemlock Haven, I learned you can make up activities to have a fun day.  You can make games like keep the balloon in the air or remember and catch or there fun games but you have to be responsible for all the parts of the game.   
          Mason
 Yesterday at the lake I learned how to be able to trust more people and how to do more teamwork.  But it was fun too there was also or responsibility.  I know a lot more now about trustworthiness.
      Shelby
 Hi, my name is Mary and what I learned yesterday at the park was to be honest, respectful, caring.  We played all sorts of games.  But they all taught us something.  One game we had to pick a person to throw the ball to and each time we added a ball we had to throw it to the same person.  It a person had two balls in their hand we had to  wait until they had at least got one ball out of their hands.  After all the games we had we ate and then went back to school and went home.
       Mary
 Yesterday at Character Day at Hemlock Haven I learned lots of things.  Trustworthiness is when you have trust in each other.  Honesty is when you tell someone the truth, that’s when your honest.  Teamwork is when you work together.  Caring is when you care for another person, or yourself.  An accomplishment is when you succeed in something.  Well, that what I learned on Character Day.
          Kiera

Thank you to the teachers for planning this event.  Most people remember rewards they have received and why they received them.  This picnic is a wonderful way to encourage our youth to practice good character.  Hungry Mother State Park is honored to be part of this event.

So many times we are too eager to jump on the bandwagon of bashing teenagers.  Today, a group of 134 students from Chilhowie Middle School in Chilhowie, VA, proved not all teens are lazy or careless.  This group came to Hungry Mother State Park as a reward for perfect attendance for the last 2 six-week grading periods. 

They spent a couple of hours in the park.  They went on a nature walk, had a small snack and just enjoyed being outside.  Everyone, students and teachers alike, enjoyed themselves.

The staff of Hungry Mother State Park would like to congratulate the students on their accomplishment.  We would also like to say ‘thank you’ to the school administration for recognizing nature as a reward.