| By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Hot, humid weather continues to be the norm in the Creston area
although a little hay has been made and the tobacco looks to be doing
well.
W. Don Glover, former production agent for the Eureka Pipe Line Company
passed away Sunday afternoon as a result of complications of diabetes.
Earlier in the day he visited with family members and friends.
Local residents were saddened at the death of Marion Whisman. He used
to play music in Creston on instruments that he had made.
Mack Menefee, Jr., passed away. The old Burning Springs rural mail
carrier had been in failing health for some time.
C. Romeo Griffin Sr. has been a patient in the hospital.
Nancy Engelke had another turn with a kidney stone and got to spend
some "quality time" at the Camden Clark hospital in Parkersburg.
Earlier she had spent time visiting Emily Rhodes who had punctured her
liver in a bicycle wreck in North Carolina.
Dorothy Graham reported that Tony & Tammy Graham of Martin's Ferry,
Ohio were visiting over the weekend. Tony, who works as a plumber in
Wheeling fixed her shower in her new home which is, as she said, "way up
closer the sky and above the high water". Sons Mike, Ed and Steve have
been helping as have Dorothy's daughters and granddaughters. Dorothy
noted that they had invested a lot of money and hard work in her new
home and she was very happy.
Local residents attended the W. Va. State Folk Festival in Glenville.
As usual there was fine music and talent scouts from other festivals
including the Chicago Folk Festival.
Alvin Engelke was attending to business in Marietta and stopped at
Brownie's Bakery.
After Leroy Marks' untimely death a 'coon statue was placed near his
grave. Later another raccoon was added and a poem, written by Jessica
Jett was laminated and placed on a flag holder. Recently, however, some
real low life thieves took the holder, the poem and the 'coon
figurines. As a family member noted, "Those who would steal off graves
would do anything." It was also noted that is why nothing is kept at
the church out at Ground Hog.
Several were on hand for the tour of the old Kanawha Hotel in Elizabeth
on Sunday. It seems that no matter where one turns, we face matters that
are best decided when we have a good grasp of history and the old hotel
in Elizabeth is an example of "hands on" history for all ages.
Back in the current events column, one fellow who was at the George
Bush happening in Parkersburg noted that paid demonstrators from
Cleveland were bussed in for the pro Kerry demonstration. Later
apparently about 400 showed up for the Rev. Jackson who is one of those
multi-millionaires who champion the "poor & downtrodden". The women in
the picture with him reminded one fellow of the 'heroine' in the song
about Delta Dawn. They looked like they were still waiting for their
prince charmings to come riding right out of the 60s to save them from
the meanies, ogres and injustices that someone might do to them.
Some one told around that if one's land came from a Land Patent, one
did not have to pay real estate taxes. Of course, almost all land
hereabouts came from Land Patents that were issued by the Commonwealth
of Virginia in 1784. William Tilton purchased warrants [issued for
service in the Revolutionary War] and combined them to purchase thousand
of acres. Most of the Creston area comes from Tilton's #30 & #31, each
of which was for 10,000 acres. They are all listed in Sims's Index
which is available in the County Clerk's Office. Of course, all the
land, except for houses of worship and public buildings, is taxable.
George Engelke who does ISO 9000 certifications reported that all the
companies that he visits report that they are doing better than they did
a year ago and many report the best financial quarter ever. He also
reported that there is a large amount of high dollar machinery and
equipment being hauled on the interstate and that on the road going
south from Chicago there were so many trucks that all the rest stops
were completely filled.
He & Cynthia returned from Yellowstone and they reported almost all the
pickups they saw were new and many were dualies. Only in Montana did
one see a significant number of older vehicles.
Jane & Nancy Engelke and Susan Myers attended a Miss America
preliminary pageant in Morgantown.
Mr. Dexterity purchased a pair of expensive earrings for the " Milk
Maid". It was understood that they were "size six" which, apparently,
means that one can also use them as finger rings. Kenny Grady reported
also that there was some talk about goats - maybe that had to do with
poor hillsides up on the head of Yellow Creek that were too poor to keep
cattle.
The price of local crude oil was $35.50 on Saturday although the price
changes almost daily. Some of the "finer residents of Araby" have
decided to kill all the non- Mohammedans who "go on Islamic soil" but
other than Israel and the Arabian Peninsula that term is hard to
define. After all the wannabees saw the demonstration tape on killing
infidels, additional killings will make the price of crude and natural
gas higher that some would like. Those who read history will find that
W. Va. used to lead the nation in the production of crude oil so, if
there is a will, there surely is a way. However, we must not forget
9/11 and that we are in a world wide war against these "fine folks" and
if we lose because of a lack of political will the world will return to
the 9th or 10th century. As comparables one can look at the old
pictures of the Assyrians leading captives off with hooks in their
mouths, one can read about when the Babylonians took the Hebrew children
off to "scenic Babylon," how the Russians and the Germans took folks off
the concentration camps & gulags, the fall of the Roman Empire and
Europe's slide into the
Dark Ages, etc.
Doreen Plummer spent a few days visiting friends and relatives in
Creston. She reported that the "Old Lizard" showed an especially good
time.
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