By Joe Obidzinski, Preserve WV AmeriCorps member, and Kelli Shapiro, PhD, Program Associate
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If you are looking for some fun and exciting things to do this summer, check out the West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail! Summer is a great time to enjoy a nostalgic movie-going experience at one of the state’s drive-in theatres – such as our Trail members, the Warner’s Drive-In in Franklin and the Sunset Drive-In in Shinnston.  Many of our member sites, like the Ritz Theatre in Hinton, are showing some of the season’s most popular films. The Capitol Theatre in Wheeling, which has primarily been a performance-oriented venue in recent years, is even featuring a weekly, summer film series that offers affordable entertainment for audiences of all ages.  With 29 member sites across the Mountain State, there are a plethora of opportunities to enjoy.

​A number of our Trail members across the state offer great children’s/youth theatre and performing arts programs over the summer, a wonderful way to get young people interested in theatre and the arts.  Perhaps you are looking for some live music performances, or even a play or musical.  The West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail features many fantastic venues for these types of entertainment as well!  There are even summer concert and performance series occurring at Trail sites, including Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg and the Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins.

‘Matewan’ Director John Sayles to Attend Launch of Blair Centennial Project

​The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced today that the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum is the recipient of a $30,000 challenge grant for their long-term project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain in 2021.

Though still four years in the future, planning for the Blair Centennial Project has already begun. A celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of John Sayles’s acclaimed film about the West Virginia Mine Wars, Matewan, will take place this October. Sayles and his producer partner, Maggie Renzi, will both attend screenings of the film in Charleston. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Centennial project. The museum will be releasing more details about the screenings in coming weeks.

The five-day Battle of Blair Mountain unfolded on the border of Boone and Logan counties and pitted unionist coal miners against local law enforcement and citizen militias. The Blair Centennial Project will consist of five days of fun, interpretive activities spread out across the coalfield counties where the conflict took place. The NEH grant makes it possible for the Museum to hire a director to coordinate the activities. The grant is also intended to increase the museum’s fundraising capacity, while creating connections among humanities organizations across southern West Virginia.

​In Governor Justice’s FY 2018 Recommended Budget, all Division of Culture & History funding that comes from the state Lottery Education Fund (fund 3534 in the budget) was to be defunded.  However, during the spring special legislative session, the West Virginia Legislature negotiated to pass the FY 2018 budget and continue funding programs made possible through the state Lottery Education Fund.  Unfortunately, several historic preservation programs were funded at lower levels than in FY 2017, but there is good news for Fairs and Festivals, which received an increase in funding. Here are how things panned out (this is not a comprehensive list of line items):