| By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Mr. & Mrs. Ira J. Lynch, Sr., Mr. & Mrs. Ira J. Lynch, Jr., Tim Lynch, Charles & Euell Russell and Mae Carter were among those who attended the fire department ice cream social and parade in Elizabeth on July 3. All who were there noted that the parade was the longest and best that they could remember. Jessica Lynch rode in a convertible and there was a flyover by a military helicopter. Mr. & Mrs. Joe Pennington rode in a great big military vehicle. Steven Settles was in charge of organizing the parade.
Terry Arthur was calling on C. Glen Arthur. Butch Goodnight and Angie Gillis who had been staying with Glen moved to Parkersburg as Butch was having chariot troubles.
Two young fellows were four wheeling down in Beaver Dam after being into the malted beverages. The one fellow landed face down in a big mud hole and would have drowned had not others, who just happened to be there, pulled him out. A neighbor took him to his residence, hosed him off, gave him some food and dry clothes and told him to go home and go to bed. Instead the pair rode off to Burning Springs Run where they wrecked the four-wheeler. The gendarmes were called and they have been getting to spend some quality time in juvenile detention.
Donna Baker read that Nancy Engelke had been in the hospital and stopped by to see how she was doing.
Mr. & Mrs. Denver McFarland, Tara Settles, Charles Russell, Nancy & Alvin Engelke all motored to Spencer to see the fireworks Sunday evening. Everyone liked the show.
Anna Engelke spent the fourth visiting at the Jess Potter residence in Wheeling. They all took in the fireworks up there.
Mr. Dexterity is now sometimes referred to as "the reverend" as there was a big revival tent set up beside his residence. He said he was interested in donations.
Nancy Engelke was consulting her orthopedic surgeon.
The ladies at the Burning Springs Methodist church held a shower for Lizzy Ferrell. She received many nice gifts for which she was very appreciative.
The heavy maintenance crew finished up the work on the piling job along the West Fork. The funds for the repair came from FEMA. They noted that it is now next to impossible to find contractors who will drill for piling. Those who will are making exorbitant demands for their services and all of them are from out of state. It was also stated that a test piling would be driven at the bad slide on W. Va. 5 near the old Tom Alec Hopkins place.
Nellie Engelke received a letter from United Bank (which is advertised as West Virginia's bank) stating that she had been approved for life insurance through the bank. The only problem is that she passed away in 1981.
Ferris Cash, age 59, of Cremo passed away.
A handsome local fellow was an overnight guest at the Doreen Plummer residence in South Parkersburg.
The Creston Community organization held its regular monthly meeting July 6 at the Community Building. A flea market to raise funds for playground equipment was scheduled for August 7 and the open house for the building will be August 15. Also there will be a litter pickup in August. Plans for the various ATV poker runs were discussed. Mrs. Patricia Shaw donated a beautiful afghan to the building which was a very successful fund raiser.
Although many on the Creston ATV poker run were covered with mud and soaking wet, a good time was reported by almost all. Brian van Matre won first, Gary & Eric Buchanan won second and third respectively. Danny Songer won the 50/50 and a Mrs. Elliot from over on Crab Run won the afghan. Representatives of two county sheriff's departments were in on the fun as well as one state enforcement agency. A couple of fellows were going too fast and one rider pointed out that one in his group worked for Health Net and they would offer their services.
The comely Amy N. Ferrell rode with a handsome Bear Fork gent and was all smiles. Family members pointed out that Jason Bell had "an accident" on the route. Details are available over in the Cremo section.
Many riders saw the Connolly Hill, old Richardsonville, Buck Run, Triplett, Hedges Fork and Rock Camp for the first time and were impressed with the scenery, rocks and game.
One of the DNR's "problem bears" that had been set off in the area demolished most of Howard Collins' bee hives. The folks down at the Mouth of the Elk said they didn't want the varmit's temperature lowered to ambient.
A certain comely red head stated that she was looking for a good man. A few eligible bachelors were mentioned but she rejected all of them out of hand. One would think that she would have difficulty culling all who would woo her. She is the grand daughter of a well known minister and has ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.
Tim Lynch went up to Cass to ride the train to the top of the mountain. The Cass rail road is one of the state's premier attractions. If the locks and dams on the Little Kanawha were fixed the local area would also have tourists who would come from far and near and many would come by boat.
Some local residents were consulting with Dr. Doug Mills.
A number of bicyclists have been going over Ground Hog, a route that certainly would be good for mountain bike practice runs.
Keith Collins has been spending the last few weeks looking for Mr. Silky, his friend who got lost over in Europe about 2 years ago. The last place he looked was in the Italian Alps. Keith is in Italy teaching English to Italian school children. He will return home in early-August.
Fat Pat the Oil Field Rat gave a jar of yummy raspberry jelly to a local resident. There has been a good crop of raspberries this year.
Two fellows, both with local connections, "got into fisticuffs" over in Ohio about a damsel. One of them did not survive.
Ted Grim and friend from Erie Pennsylvania were visiting area relatives and friends and assisted in the Creston poker run.
Mr. & Mrs. Garry Anderson were spending some time in the area visiting & went on the big run.
Rev. Juanita Lockhart filled her regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. church. There will be a special congregational meeting of the church at 7 P. M. on July 19 to assist in curing a title defect in the former Palestine parsonage property. A Dr. Richard Wright is involved.
The folks at the Creston church are working on an addition to the building.
Jane Engelke went to New York City to meet with the famous evening gown designer Sherri Hill. Sherri just returned from China and will be designing two dresses for one of Jane's customers for a national competition. Jayme Shaw, a competition swimsuit designer, has made several suits for Elizabeth Michaels customers. In addition Jane is designing two evening gowns for Miss Ohio USA and Miss West Virginia USA competitions to be held this fall.
Eric Buchanan, The Old Lizard, Matthew Copen and Doreen Plummer were among those calling at the Carl Ferrell residence.
The FunChester group went to spend the week at the beach but Anna had to work.
The price of local crude oil fell over the week-end to $36.75. Hastings Extraction Plant will be off-line beginning on July 13, 2004, in order to tie-in a new compressor station at Mockingbird. | 
