Virginia Tech, Dirty Dancing and a hike to Cascade Falls

By Alana Hamann

After a shorter drive than expected, we arrived at VirginiaTech and got a tour of the beef cattle barn and the horse barn plus a look at one of their riding lessons.  We drove into campus and met with a faculty member of the school's agriculture college who showed us around the greenhouses on the campus.  He talked to us about a couple specific plants, such as one which flowers for a few days every four or five years.  He told us that any major could take classes on indoor plants and that a lot of people did take advantage of this.  We even got to take clippings from some of the plants, which we called our ‘babies’.  It was interesting to see the large presence that horticulture and agriculture have on their campus relative to Maryland’s.

Jeannie Dudding and Elizabeth Johnson of the 4-H extension office then took us to the Mountain Lake Lodge, which was where Dirty Dancing was filmed.  They told us that an earthquake had made the lake drain into an underground cave and that there were issues with fixing the resulting crack while still maintaining the natural lake designation.  However, they found a way to fix it while keeping it a natural lake, and it is slowly refilling again.  They mentioned how there were diary entries from around the 1920s saying how the lake had drained, so they figured that this is a natural process for the lake.  We got to go into the resort and looked at pictures of it throughout the years.  I had watched the movie before, but I was surprised to learn that it was filmed in Virginia.

We all headed out to a trail, which led to Cascade Falls.  We decided to take the harder trail with stone steps to get to the waterfall and come back to the parking lot by way of the easier trail.  The scenery was beautiful as we headed up the path, although there were a couple slippery spots on the trail, but we made it after a couple miles.  We finally arrived at the waterfall, which was stunning, and took a ton of pictures.  You could feel the mist from the waterfall when the wind blew.  We walked back and were all exhausted after our hike, which was around 4 miles.

Recording Oral History: The Importance of the Mountain Home Center

By Andrew Jones

Later that same day, we took the drive up to the upper part of Bland County to visit the Mountain Home Center. A building connected to the county’s high school, Mountain Home Center was something unique that I have never encountered in the schools in my home area. To summarize it in my words, it was a place where anyone that wanted to come by could explore the oral history of Bland County, of which the students at Bland County High School made. When we first came in, we were all introduced to the founder of the Center, John Dodson. Unfortunately, he seemed as if he was in a rush, as he only asked for our names and shortly after left. Later, the teacher for the Mountain Home Center gave a presentation on what the meaning behind the Mountain Home Center was. From what I could gather, the actual class offered to the students at the high school was multidisciplinary, where the students would not just learn about the history of Bland County, but also would be given the necessary tools to venture out of the classroom and interview long-time members of the county and record their stories. Karen, a member in our group, noted that many of the technologies and final products these students were asked to do, were comparable to the work she does back at UMD, something I’d never expected from her. Luckily, three of the students were there with us, and they, along with the teachers, could answer our questions that many of us had later.

The students and teachers all gave informative answers to my questions. One particular student caught my attention though. When she gave her perspective to this course, she spoke with such enthusiasm I’ve rarely seen in many other high school students her age. It had me relieve to know that, in a rural and economically poorer community such as Bland, this school is able to guide people such as this student to find their true passions. One of the teachers for the course told us that it wasn’t until one of the students interviewed her grandma that she could really learn about her grandma’s past before she passed away. The emphasis on oral history is something, as we all move into a society that relies on technology, we all must keep in order to remember how we all got to where we are today. Not only is the practices of oral history something necessary to fully understand our own stories, but it is also something that all people, especially those in primary education, need to develop an awareness of. The initiative Bland County has taken with the recording of their history is something that has inspired me to start learning more about how I got to where I am today. The time at the Mountain Home Center was time well spent, and it really has changed the perspective I have towards the education system here in the U.S.

Bland Ministry Center: A Place More than Just Serving Food

By Andrew Jones

On Tuesday, our group went to our backyard (literally) to volunteer at the Bland Ministry Center's food pantry. I worked at a soup kitchen when I was in the 7^th and 8^th grades, but never at a food pantry, so my expectations beforehand were comparable to the work I did at the soup kitchen. Although there were some similarities, there were many aspects I did not expect, many of which were surprisingly enjoyable. Before the pantry was open to the public, the volunteers had us work with the preparation of the food we would later distribute that day. A few people from our group worked on putting the frozen foods into plastic bags, and everyone else had different duties pertaining to operating the food pantry. An aspect I was surprised by was that not only did he pantry hold an enormous amount of food, but the pantry also supplied furniture and clothing. The food, by itself, was immense; there was so much, I had no idea where it could have all come from. And that does not include also the amount of donated clothing and furniture we encountered. At around 10 o’clock, people started to roll around the pantry, and for the next two hours, it was nonstop piling this “stuff” into trunks or backseats of cars, SUVs, trucks, etc. A whole array of people came through, but it primarily consisted of the elderly and small families. My duty was to bring the large crates of food supplied by the USDA and Bland County into the hundreds of cars that would come by throughout the time we were there.

The aspect I’d probably enjoyed the most was meeting the people that constantly volunteer there every day. They were all very nice and had very interesting stories to tell. One person, Brian, was probably the most interesting of the group. He was a real blunt yet genuine person, aspects I tend to associate with myself. He told me about how he at first used to despise the food pantry, but then after some time, he became one of their premier volunteers. He also used to be an inmate at the local county jail, but had he not told me beforehand, I would have never guessed that from his personality. He, in many ways, reminded me of my Calculus teacher from high school, as he was also a very blunt and genuine individual. I also met some other interesting folks, but unfortunately, their Southern accents were so strong, that even after being polite and asking them to repeat themselves, I still couldn’t fully understand what they were trying to say. I was extremely pleased when I later found out that we would be returning to the Food Pantry on Thursday. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better experience working at the Food Pantry than I did those two days.

A Talk with the Bland County Administrator

By Nicholas Rosenberg

On Monday we ended the day with a meeting with Eric Workman, the county administrator, in the Bland County Courthouse. The courthouse was in the center of town, right across the street from Grants, the only grocery store in Bland County. Eric was a big friendly guy and was thrilled to meet with us. We first talked pleasantries like how long Eric had been in Bland, how we had been enjoying our stay, and a few other light topics. During that conversation Eric talked about his educational history, which was pretty extensive since he has a doctorate degree. One interesting bit of info we learned was he used to play football and one time his team came to the UMD campus to play the Terps.

From there the conversation moved into the issues facing Bland County. Eric was surprisingly open about the issues facing bland and according to him the biggest issue for Bland is economic stability. He is constantly look for ways to bring in new companies and jobs for the citizens of Bland. One example he gave was the grocery store, one of his proudest accomplishments as county administrator was to bring Grants to Bland, because before the store was there citizens of Bland had to drive to neighboring counties to by a lot of their groceries. Eric was also a strong believer is education, it was the focus of his post-secondary education and he was a teacher and principle for the bland school for several years before became county administrator. He believes that education is the pathway to a better life. One of the more interesting things we learned about the education opportunities of bland is that for residents of Bland and Whitfield counties the first two years of Wytheville Community College is free. 

Near the end of our visit, I asked him about any efforts to make the county more sustainable, and he didn’t give the answer I was hoping for. Eric’s main focus was economic sustainability, while I was hoping to hear more about environmental sustainability, which from my observations the county is greatly lacking when it comes to things like recycling and other green initiatives. Overall we had a great conversation with Eric, and he is really doing his best to improve the county.

Ever played Bingo?: A visit to the Kissito Nursing Home

By Stacy Nakintu

Interestingly, the Kissito Nursing Home was named after the owner’s dog.  I was quite curious about the name since it had some kind of similarity to my relatives’ last name.

At the nursing home, I met Billy, a quiet man who enjoys company, is very friendly, enjoys playing bingo, and plays the game of checkers by his own rules.

I got a chance to play Bingo for the first time and interact with the elderly community of Bland. It was interesting watching them as they were all engaged in the game of Bingo. At the end of our visit, Billy walked us out.

Those sweet dreams of wanting to be an engineer: A visit to ABB

By Stacy Nakintu

We had an opportunity this week to visit ABB, a power plant company in Bland.  ABB is the second-largest employer in Bland. They focus on converting high voltage, low amperage power into low voltage, high amperage power. Their products consist of three types of transformers: open-wound, cast, and Resibloc.

Two company representatives, both of whom had worked for the company for more than a decade, gave us a tour of the factory premises. The company opened in 1975 and has grown over the years in size and production. We learned that ABB is very involved in the Bland community through organizing food drives, and supporting its employees who choose to pursue higher education through reimbursing an employee up to $10,000 if they choose to return to school.

All in all, it was a trip down memory lane for me. I studied physics all through high school and had dreams of pursing a career in engineer. It was exciting to see the work that is done at ABB and how transformers are put together right from the initial production stage and all through the value added processes, and how the transformers are tested for efficiency and over-heating.