The Brains Behind Saving Yours
Article By: Bonnie Williamson Photos By: Josh Triggs It’s a disease that destroys lives: the lives of those afflicted with it, as well as the lives of those who care for the afflicted. It can strike at any age. It’s not just an old person’s disease. It can’t be prevented, cured or slowed. Its name is Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is defined as a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental functions. It’s the most common form of dementia, a group of brain disorders that result in the loss of intellectual and social skills. This catastrophic illness is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. It’s the fastest growing disease in the country. More than five million Americans are in its grip. In West Virginia alone, there are more than 37,000 people with Alzheimer’s and more than 107,000 people caring for them. The Alzheimer’s Association West Virginia Chapter is the only voluntary health organization in the state solely dedicated to providing education and support services to individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, as well as to their families and care givers. The chapter serves all 55 counties in West Virginia, six counties in eastern Ohio and one county in Virginia. The West Virginia Chapter has four offices: the headquarters in Charleston and three regional offices, one in Parkersburg, Morgantown and the newest office in Martinsburg, which started in April 2014. Cecelia Nichols is the regional coordinator for the Martinsburg office. The office covers the seven counties of Jefferson, Berkeley, Morgan, Hardy, Grant, Hampshire, and Mineral. Nichols says the mission of the Alzheimer’s Association is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. “The Alzheimer’s Association is the third largest nonprofit fundraiser for Alzheimer research in the world,” Nichols says. “The people who are part of this organization all have the same passion to eliminate this disease. We all have either had a family member who suffered from Alzheimer’s or know someone who has had to deal with this disease. They have a personal connection to the disease.” Nichols’ grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2012 at the age of 78. She lived in her own home in Mineral County West Virginia until one fateful night. “We had special clocks in her home so she could tell when it was day or night and other devices so she could tell the day of the week,” Nichols says. “She would take a bus to an adult day care center. One day she...
More Than Flowers
Article By: Tula Mason Photos By: Josh Triggs With the arrival of spring just around the corner and summer not far behind that, our thoughts turn to all of the beautiful foliage and bright, colorful flowers that come along with these warmer seasons. The promises of the sunshine and the aromatic smells and wonderful sights to come tell us that it’s time for those highly anticipated spring and summer weddings to begin. With this in mind a good florist is a must. With many local flower shops to choose from in the Martinsburg, WV area, it may seem a bit overwhelming trying to decide which one would best fit your needs. Please allow me to give you my two cents on this matter based on my own personal experience. I am of the opinion that you just can’t go wrong with Bells & Bows located at 118 W Martin Street in downtown Martinsburg, WV. This well established fl oral business is so much more than just a flower shop but also the perfect place to find all matter of charming gifts and holiday accessories for your home as well. Bells & Bows has been in business since 1984 and was originally owned by an investor from out of town that actually knew very little about running a flower shop let alone creating flower arrangements. For this reason he called upon the fl oral expertise of Charles Spalding to manage the business. As you can imagine, this entailed much more than simply arranging flowers. After all with his 25 years of full-time experience at a florist shop in Virginia, that just so happened to be owned and operated by his in-laws at the time, he was the perfect choice. Charlie’s mother and father in-law taught him all of the ins and outs of the fl oral business including the importance of treating customers like family. Charlie, as he is more widely known to his customers and friends, did not attend design school but rather learned by experience instead. At any rate, he ultimately moved to West Virginia to manage Bells & Bows that was located in a small strip mall on Rock Cliff Drive at the time, bringing with him everything he had learned over the years. Charlie began his lifetime work in the fl oral industry in 1967 because he found out that he had a love for flowers and gardening at a young age. In the beginning he worked at the above mentioned family florist shop on a part-time basis while also working part-time at the public library as well. After a time he realized that his love...
Schmankerl Stube: Bavarian Culinary Delicacy in a Cozy Room
Article By: M.T. Decker Photos By: Josh Triggs Schmankerl Stube has been Hagerstown’s home for authentic Bavarian food for almost 30 years. Located at 58 S. Potomac Street in Hagerstown, Maryland, the restaurant was built to honor Hagerstown’s German Roots and to celebrate Bavarian Cuisine. Having emigrated to the United states from Bavaria, founder Charles Sekula wanted to share his love of his homeland, and give people a taste of Germany. From the layout of the restaurant, to the food, and the way the servers are dressed, everything is about Bavaria. The restaurant itself is designed to transport patrons to Germany, where the waitstaff wears traditional Bavarian clothing including Dresses (Dimdls) and Lederhosen. The food it serves is Authentically German. To achieve this, they have stuck to traditional German recipes, even going as far as to hire a Bavarian Chef, Deiter Blosel. Having the same vision, it was only natural that when Charles Sekula decided to sell the restaurant, he would do so to his chef of almost 20 years. Both men knew they had something special and they wanted to keep that moving forward into the next 30 years. Very little has changed since they’ve started transitioning because the changes to the menu were actually made when Chef Dieter Blosel arrived from Germany in the late 90’s and the transition between owners has been a natural progression. “Very little has changed,” Deiter assures me with a smile. “Charles still greets the customers… I just work more.” It was what he and Charles had planned: Keeping the restaurant as it should be, authentic Bavarian recipes cooked by a traditional Bavarian Chef. “One of the unique features of running a Bavarian restaurant is the fact that it is a destination restaurant – it’s not something you just say ‘Hey, I feel like some German food tonight.'” Deiter explains about how the restaurant has managed to keep its customer base and thrive, even during the economic down turn. Not only did they keep their customer base— many members of their wait staff have been with them for 10-20 years, one even retiring from the restaurant recently. People who come to Schmankerl Stube plan their visit. Some customers come weekly, others every other week… some only a few times a year, but they come with certain flavors in mind. “Many of our customers have been to Germany and they know authentic Bavarian cooking when they have it.” And they come to Schmankerl Stube for that flavor. The name of the restaurant isn’t just a description – it is a promise: Schmankerl means ‘Bavarian Culinary Delicacy’ and Stube is German for a ‘cozy...
A Cultural Opportunity Of A Lifetime
Article By: Tula Mason Photos By: Josh Triggs and Seth Freeman “The Theatre, the Theatre, what’s happened to the Theatre?” This was the burning question that Danny Kaye asked at the beginning of his “Choreography” number in the iconic movie “White Christmas.” Well Mr. Kaye I have found it and it is alive and well. The Theater can be found in Shepherdstown, WV. More specifically at the beautiful Shepherd University, right on the campus. That’s right! The Contemporary American Theater Festival will kick off on July 7th and continue through July 30th of 2017. I can’t begin to tell you what exciting news this is for the community of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and the surrounding areas. This proves to be the cultural opportunity of a lifetime for one and all. This is a chance to experience six new theatrical productions that as whole are a complete picture of the landscape of today’s America. Ed Herendeen founded the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) in 1991. The first and only professional production that year would be the regional premier of “Accelerando” by Lisa Loomer. This would mark the beginning of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, WV. It was after the president of what was then Shepherd College contacted Ed Herendeen for some guidance on how to launch a professional summer theater in Shepherdstown that Herendeen proposed the idea. At that time he was working as producing director at the Williamstown, Massachusetts Theater Festival. He suggested that new American plays really needed a home in which to be nurtured and to grow to maturity with an audience with a rural college campus as a backdrop being an ideal setting. And so the non-profit summer theater that would be a separate entity from the college was born. It came complete with a special contract with Actor’s Equity to allow them to hire professional talent. This is the union of professional actors and stage managers. The theater festival has continued to grow with each passing year and has brought the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia a plethora of talent and new professional theater experiences. Over the 27 years since its conception the Contemporary American Theater has provided the perfect venue for new play writes and plays to spread their artistic wings and fly. It has also served to support established play writes as well, and all of this is on a national scale. This has given quite a boost to the cultural reputation of both the community of the Eastern Panhandle as well as what is now known as Shepherd University. It goes without saying that this in turn...
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