Although this has not been a big traveling season in West Virginia, the Pocahontas County Historical Society Museum has been open since Memorial Day and, with the Labor Day Weekend now over, we are now approaching a reduced schedule for fall. Over the summer, the following people have hosted visitors:

Khristian Smith, Zachary Grimes, Bill McNeel, Denise McNeel, Ashley Fleming, Michelle Evans, Tim Holmes, Bob Lister and JoAnn Lister. We hope to be open on weekends and on other days by special request in September, so additional volunteers would be welcome. We will again participate in the Smithsonian Museum Day, which coincides with the Roadkill Cook-Off on September 29. Free admission tickets are available online.

The Historical Society, which opened the museum 49 years ago, has been very active this year with meetings and programs in Huntersville and Green Bank, as well as at the Museum. Our August meeting featured Buckeye and Mill Point and our September meeting will bring in a visitor from Greenbrier County to talk about Fort McCoy and the Williamsburg Historical group. We are now making plans to celebrate our half-century of operation which will coincide next year, of course, with the Sesquicentennial of the State of West Virginia.

Activities have included preservation displays, sales of history books at all county fairs, the transfer of the Old Jail to Huntersville Traditions Day, erecting a new sign at the Confederate Cemetery on the museum grounds, courtesy of Geoff Hamill, administering the history contest, organizing the pioneer work and music and preparing and entering a float in the Pioneer Days parade. We also have a field trip in the works for October.

Dues are $10 a year and can be sent to PCHS at 810 Second Avenue, Marlinton, WV 24954; these include free entry to the museum for a year and also help us to pay the bills to maintain and keep the museum open. The purchase of books through the Historical Society and The Pocahontas Times also helps us to fund the operation of the Museum.

We would like to stress that, though the Museum will be closed mid-week, we are more than willing to open it for visitors, if we are available. Schools and organizations that wish to bring a group can contact us ahead of time. We have a FaceBook page —Pocahontas County Historical Museum—and a web page pocahontashistorical. org

The McClintic Library has a history room which, amid many other documents and books, houses the digitized version of The Pocahontas Times and is open year-round.

So, if you and your family have not been to the museum recently, stop by to visit.