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Proud to be a West Virginian

Montani Semper Liberi .... Mountaineers Are Always Free.

These words adorn the state flag and state seal of the Great State of West Virginia.

Yes, that state that continually comes in last in every statistic kept by the federal government. We're last (or next to last) in just about every failing of humankind ... obesity, tobacco use, high school graduation rate, and teen pregnancy. You name it; we're number one or number fifty, depending upon your perspective.

West Virginia is one of the poorest states in America. Our median income wouldn't buy a cheeseburger, fries, and a coke in New York City.

Our elected politicians are, by and large, good ole boys. We're the butts of many a joke around the country. The largest employer in the state IS the state. The largest single city in West Virginia barely has 50,000 people. We're mostly known for coal mining, yet the lion's share of dollars from mining leaves the state, and ends up in the hands of the land barons living elsewhere.

No United States Presidents were born in West Virginia. I don't even believe any Vice Presidents were born here; but we are the home of Senator Robert C. Byrd.

West Virginia doesn't have a professional sports team. We're not big enough. We don't have any major TV markets that would be attractive to any owners. We don't have any national monuments ... no Grand Canyon, or Mount Rushmore, or even a Disney World; no NASCAR tracks (yet), no Great Lakes, no international airports, no Opryland, no sky needles, no eight lane highways, no beaches, no Ivy League colleges. We don't have any skyscrapers, or world famous vacation spots, or motion picture studios, or amber waves of grain; no subways, no Emmy Awards, no Mardi Gras, and no Rose Bowl Parade.

With all of the things West Virginia doesn't have, why would anyone bother living here, you ask?

Well ...West Virginia has some things that a person doesn't realize they wanted until they were here.

West Virginia has mountains. The Appalachian Mountains extend from New York to Georgia, but in no state are they more majestic, or part of the renown, than in West Virginia. The highest point in West Virginia is Spruce Knob, one mile above sea level. Yes, there are higher points in America, but none more beautiful.

Because of our mountains, we have rivers. The oldest river in the Western Hemisphere, the New River (quite appropriately named, don't you think) ends in West Virginia. We have the Gauley river, which confluences with the New River in a magnificent cascade to form the Kanawha River, which in turn flows through the center of the state, and directly through the capital city of Charleston, the largest city in West Virginia. These rivers in addition to the Cheat, Blackwater, Tygart, Monongahela, and countless others offer tremendous recreational opportunities.

The tallest building in Charleston is barely 25 floors tall, which, if you think about it, is a plus; how could you possibly build a skyscraper more beautiful than a mountain? The capital city stretches throughout the long river valley, encompassing both hill and dale. The Charleston airport, the largest in the state, sits on top of a mountain. The crime rate in Charleston, including the entire population of the Kanawha Valley (around 200,000), reflects that of the entire state ....... the lowest in America. No more than a handful of murders are committed each year. Charleston has no subway systems, but, truth be known, you can get from one end of town to the other, even in rush hour traffic, in less than ten minutes. There are three major interstate systems going through Charleston, the smallest city in America to make such a claim. The entire state has six different interstate systems, meaning, from Charleston, you can reach Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Louisville or Charlotte in four hours or less.

Ah, but, once you leave the interstates, the drive becomes a thing of wonder. Two lane roads, winding up and down the mountains, offer amazing views and historic places ... small towns, poor in wealth but rich in history. West Virginia is the birthplace of Mother's Day, in Grafton; and Father's Day, in Fairmont. We have the oldest covered bridge still in use. We have walnut festivals and strawberry festivals and apple festivals and pumpkin festivals and buckwheat festivals, and arts and crafts fairs and stern wheel regattas and ramp dinners. We have Bridge Day, on the New River Gorge bridge over 800 feet above the New River; the only standing structure in the United States that, one day a year, allows parachuting and bungee jumping.

We have college basketball, and minor league baseball and hockey, and, just like all of America, Friday night high school football. We have white water rafting, and skiing, and hiking, and caves, and waterfalls, and camping in every direction. We have Sundays where a leisurely drive in the car can take eight hours, and only cover 100 miles. We have bed and breakfasts, and resorts, and golf courses, and museums, and the Greenbrier Hotel. West Virginia has more natural beauty and wonder than any person could ever imagine.

We have all of this, and yet ... our greatest asset is our people.

West Virginians are good people. We care about each other. We talk to our neighbors over the backyard fence. We grow tomatoes for the entire neighborhood. We turn around in each other's driveways, and yell "howdy" when we do. We sit on the porch on warm summer evenings, listening to crickets, and watching kids catch fireflies. We loan a hammer, or a cup of sugar.

We don't take two-hour lunches, but we do spend a few minutes each day with a cup of coffee, and our feet up on our desk, shooting the breeze. We rarely get in a hurry. We have relatives just down the street. We don't just loan someone a socket wrench, we help them fix their car. We share recipes, and gardening tips, and our last cup of coffee. We baby sit each other's kids, we house sit for each other's dogs while we're on vacation, and we loan each other our cars if we have to get to the drug store. We ask each other if we need anything as we're going to the market. We celebrate each other's accomplishments, and we cry over each other's disappointments.

We are a friendly folk. We are West Virginians. Mountaineers are always free. Free to take the time to enjoy life, and hold each moment in our hearts, forever.

I don't even believe any Vice Presidents were born here; but we are the home of Senator Robert C. Byrd.

Spoken with obvious pride by an idiot. Not your work, I hope!

Byrd was voted WV's man of the 20th Century. Alas, this is perfectly just! Byrd represents exactly the liberal pork-barrel welfare-state government that kills private enterprise and produces ... a WV or a DC. He represents WV's last 100 years as well as any one man's life can do.

You don't have to work very hard to sell me on the beauty and perfection of the New River Valley. My forbears claim it...

But I have some serious issues with how Mountaineers vote. I'd charactarize the behavior as the Populism of Resentment. This is how the people of WV have been exploited--by their own attempts to exploit. And they're too contrary to give up the habit!!

I can relate, as I am from just over the hill in western NC, beautiful country and sweet folk also. Problem is too many want to exploit our "slowness" into some sort of fast lane - that something called progress, just ain't what it’s cracked up to be. It’s a rich life and I miss it out here on the Southwest desert where that ‘progress’ is taking away something pretty special from the west and leaving behind the to be expected political morass and consequences.

Thanx for 16

I was born and raised in WV, and I live here now. You could draw a circle 10 miles in diameter, and all the homes I've ever had would fit within them.

Many of these ideas are true. West Virginians, though they are rednecks through and through, are very friendly. I would think nothing of asking any one of them to help me out should I need it, and they feel the same way.

That being said, we mind our own business, too.

I don't lock my doors at night. I leave the keys in my vehicle. Right now, I have about $600 worth of musical equipment in the back of one of my vehicles that I left there last night, and I don't give it a second thought.

Some of my neighbors even know how to get into my house without the key, should they need to do so for some reason.

We're all heavily armed, too. Mostly this is for hunting season, but everyone here appreciates guns of all types. I have only one friend who lives here who is unarmed. He's a member of the NRA, and is saving to buy a pistol.

I once stopped my vehicle to talk to a park ranger at a local state-owned campground. He saw my Ruger wedged between the driver's seat and the console. "Nice piece of iron", he said. "What does one of those set you back?" You could literally throw your carry weapon on the dashboard and carry it there and probably no one would say much about it.

When I fish or tromp around in the woods, I often carry openly. Last month, I was fishing under a bridge, in full view of the passersby on the road, without so much as a comment being made about it.

The wilderness here is incredible. A 10 minute drive from my house puts you in the middle of nowhere. I know the rivers in my county by heart, because I've been on almost every one of them in a canoe. When you do float them, by the way, you probably won't see another person all day.

There aren't a lot of people here, and that's a good thing. When the leaves are on in the summer, I can't see another house.

Property is cheap. I bought 6 acres from a logging operation that had been "thinned", i.e., selectively cut so that it wasn't totally wrecked. I paid $11,000 for it.

Tax on that property, by the way, and for the 3 bedroom house that sits on it, was $211 for the year of 2001.

Yes, there are a lot of bad things about this state, and most of it has been caused by the Byrd/Rockefeller combo in Congress. Even with all that, I refuse to leave for the reasons I just stated.

When I retire, I will move to WVA, from NVA. Love the mountains, love the folk, want to stretch my dollar as far as it will go.

In the meantime, I will keep my kids in the BEST SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY, in VA.