Aurora Barn Dance

My recent Back Roads journeys have focused on Preston and Harrison counties. Look for these stories in upcoming issues of Goldenseal:

• George Harvey's movie theater in his garage. George, a retired miner, runs 35mm and 16mm films in his theater.
• The Blue Bird Box man of Clarksburg.
• Aurora Barn Dance
• Newburg Rotary cider tradition.
• Clarksburg-area bluebird boxes.

While traveling to my appointment with Matt Wilkinson last summer, I got lost ... fairly standard for my work in West Virginia. I don't panic, because I usually come across some great stories and always meet fine people in the process.

So I'm traveling down a dirt road, rutted from big coal trucks and not far from a mountain-top removal operation, trying to figure out where I made a wrong turn. There's no one around; just woods, old railroad tracks and a river. Then I see a little girl, probably 8 or 10 years old, standing at the end of a long driveway leading to a trailer by the creek. She's frantically waving her arms at me; I figure someone was hurt and needed help, or perhaps it was one of Matt's family members flagging me down.

I pulled off the side of the road, rolled down the window and asked her what she needed.

'Mister, would you like to buy a cup of iced tea?' she asked.

Yes, here in the middle of nowhere, she was selling iced tea.

I bit for it, and she looked down the long driveway and waved to her brother, who came tearing up the drive on his ATV, a cloud of dust behind him, with a jug of very warm tea and a Styrofoam cup.

'Fifty cents.'

I call these little encounters "Goldenseal" moments. It's why I do what I do; it's what makes life worth living.

Articles and photography by Carl E. Feather have appeared in several national magazines. I specialize in stories about Appalachia and its people, but also write travel and human interest, as well. My focus is always on the common person or place with the uncommon story.

Since the 1980s, it has been my pleasure and honor to be a regular contributor to GOLDENSEAL Magazine, a publication of the West Virginia Department of Culture and History.

My two-page feature "Back Roads" appears in "Goldenseal," the magazine of the Department of Culture and History, West Virginia. Several times a year, I  hit the back roads and unknown corners of the state in search of interesting places, people and events.

I also contribute feature-length stories dealing with everything from ghosts to preachers; apples to musicians.

If you have an idea for a Goldenseal story, I would love to hear from you.
Send me an e-mail.

Are you new to Goldenseal? Read more about this great subscriber-supported magazine at their site, just click on the magazine image. If you enjoy magazines without advertising, like reading about real people (not movie stars and pseudo-singers), you'll love "Goldenseal," regardless of where you live.

From time to time, I'll upload a gallery of photos from current Goldenseal articles. For example, the December 2006 issue included a story and photo essay about Boone County wood carver Matt Wilkinson.

In the Winter 2005 issue, I did a feature on the Marshall County town of Rosby's Rock.

In the spring of 2007, look for a feature about The Purple Fiddle in Thomas.

Here is a sampling of articles I've done for Goldenseal and the issue in which you'll find them:

All Aboard in Belington: Leon Cross and the New Tygart Flyer Winter;31:4;p60

Apple Royalty: Berkeley County's Miller Family Fall;27:3;p6

The Bottling Works: Keeping History on Ice in Romney 22:4;p35

Country Store Opry: Grant County's Music Capitol Summer;29:2;p56

Dave Cross III: The Coalwood Greeter Spring;31:1;p58

A Fence Full of Apples: Espalier in Sistersville Fall;27:3;p19

Echoes of the Flood at Harman Fall;31:3;p66

The Executioner’s Story: Bob Harness and the Moundsville Pen Fall;31:3;p38

First Cutting -- A Story for June 13:2;p2

Friendly Spirits at the Sportsman's Club Fall;29:3;p58

"Go See Sonny": Hedrick's Store in Hendricks Spring;29:1;p44

" Go See Willard": Selling Farm Machinery in Preston County 21:1;p32

Harpers Ferry Ghost Walk Fall;27:3;p60

A Harrison County Drive-In: Sunset Memories 21:2;p65

Heirloom Apples Fall;27:3;p14

The Honeymoon's Over: Selling Souvenirs on U.S. Route 50 Spring;27:1;p20

“Mayor” Ivan Gorby of Bowman Ridge Summer;31:2;p58

Merchants of Thomas: Doing Business in Tucker County 19:4;p27

The Milk Had to Get Through: Home Delivery in Tucker County Spring;25:1;p26

Our Lady of the Pines: The Small Church With a Big Heart Spring;26:1;p52

A Passion for the Drive-In: 1950's Institution Alive and Well at Grafton 21:2;p57

Rosbys Rock: No More, No Less Winter;31:4;p46

Smaller Than the Smallest Spring;26:1;p54

"So Proud To Be Here": A Visit With Comedienne Elsie Whitmer Summer;29:2;p62

Tilting at Turbines: Nick Boinovych's Windmill 22:3;p41

"We Like This Old Music":

Wetzel County's Hillbilly Haven Summer;29:2;p66

“Your Move”: Honor and Checkers in Matewan Summer;31:2;p66