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Madeline Ricks is an AmeriCorps member with AFNHA, serving as the Collections Preservation Coordinator for The Augusta Heritage center in Elkins, WV. She has begun writing a new blog series for the Augusta website. Beginning with the African origins of the banjo, Madeline will take readers on a journey through the histories and cultural impacts of the instruments played in West Virginia’s musical traditions.
There are many interesting and unique materials housed in the Upshur County Historical Society Document Repository that have never been displayed in an exhibit. Some materials have been overlooked because, while interesting, they relate to a topic that is too narrow to warrant an entire exhibit. This year’s exhibit gives space for these materials to shine.
On June 19, Pleasant Green Church in Hillsboro underwent two restoration projects in collaboration with the Forest Service, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, AFNHA AmeriCorps, and Cultural Heritage in the Forest. The Forest Service creates partnerships like these within local communities to help support efforts of preservation. This partnership is overwhelmingly meaningful to us here at the Forest and AFNHA - connecting with Black students and sharing with them our state’s history is invaluable to the future of diverse involvement, public awareness, and funding for these sites. There is no West Virginia History without Black History, and it was our honor to share with them this part of their cultural past.
This term in 2023-2024, my involvement with the 4-H History Round-Up project and my participation at 4-H Camp evolved together as the theme of this year’s camp was “A Journey Through 4-H”. The theme took campers through the past and into what may be the future of 4-H in 2115. That faraway date marked the 200-year anniversary of the world’s first 4-H Camp in 1915, “Camp Good Luck”, which took place in Randolph County! This theme gave me the role of putting all the Randolph County 4-H history I’ve learned in my service to direct use.
Every March the WV Division of Forestry organizes 4 citizen science lessons for 5th graders at Petersburg Elementary School. These lessons are about Non-Native and Invasive Species (NNIS). We teach these students what non-native and invasive species are, how they spread, how to identify specific species, and how to use GPS data to locate, track, and record information on them.
The Upshur County Historical Society: An Occasional Newsletter was just published mid-April. The annual journal is dedicated to providing educational articles on historical topics related to Upshur County. As the AFNHA member serving with the UCHS this year, I had the opportunity to contribute an article on Bush’s Fort, the primary frontier fort in the region that would become Upshur County. Readers have requested an article on this topic for years, and so I was glad to help see that request fulfilled.
Over the years, the WV Governor’s Cup Ski Race has played an important role in the ski history of Tucker County, WV. Considered the longest running race throughout the southeast, Alpine Festival, Inc. will be presenting its 64th race in 2024. Racers will have a chance to win some amazing prizes and only a select few will get their names placed on the famous WV Governor’s Cup Trophy.
This year AFNHA is assisting the forest service in completing the National Visitor Use Monitoring Survey. Being a surveyor is providing a wonderful opportunity to travel around the state and enjoy the beauty of our forest as well as write a few haikus!
My year at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge has been incredibly rewarding and something I will always remember fondly. I am very grateful for my time as an AmeriCorps member and I am lucky to have served at two different National Wildlife Refuges. I felt that I was able to learn more and really advance my skill set through my year-long position with AFNHA. I highly recommend AmeriCorps and AFNHA to anyone that is looking to get their foot in the door in the field of conservation and gain valuable experience.
This year for the first time the Seneca Rocks Discovery Center and the USDA Forest Service hosted 4th graders from Pendleton County for a day full outdoor recreation, cultural heritage, and fun! 56 students from the surrounding area visited stations set up on the Discovery Center grounds focusing on cultural heritage of the area and outdoor recreation activities in the hope to encourage more exploration of the public lands around them.
