By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The Creston area received more gentle rain & on one day there was a sleet/snow mix for a short time. Even though it is up in November some petunias are still blooming. They must be surrounded by some of Albert Gore Jr.'s hot air. Leaves continue to turn as colors continue to be more like earlier in the fall.
The "in" place the other day was Jon Simms' big oilfield & equipment auction over in Jackson County. Teddy the Gas Typhoon, Jon Hildreth, Bob Matthey, Shirley Meadows, Sam McKown, the Whiteds, the Francis Brothers, the Perkins family, Harold Ullum, Jim Prusak, Eddie Yoak, David Cain, R. L. Phillips, M. C. Pursley, Jr., Dave McKain, Richard Boice, The Brothers Grimm, & many, many more spent the day bidding on bargains and eating goodies provided by the Silverton Grange. A 36 BE spudder fetched 69 thou, a 1999 Mack vacuum truck brought 64 big ones & a junk mud pump was snapped up for $5,000. The sale went on until after dark as the goodie boxes were sold by flashlight.
Ethel Fausteen Bell, age 82 passed away in Parkersburg. She was a sister of the late Orval Hughes. Burial will be at the Snyder Chapel (Pine Alley) cemetery.
Preston Ball and W. A. Wilson, Jr. are in the junk hauling business taking in 3 or 4 loads per week.
While the talking heads have been talking about the price of crude oil going into the stratosphere or at least the $100 range the local price of crude rose to $90/bbl with November natural gas being in the $7 range.
Equitable announced more horizontal wells in Jackson & Mingo Counties and another Oriskany well was permitted in Pendleton County, #23 since records have been kept, while Cabot & Dominion (Mother Hope) both announced new Mercer County wells reflecting the new areas of drilling. It was learned that folks have been buying oil and gas rights in Greenbrier County for $500 acre - an area never really known as part of the oil (or gas) patch.
A number of local residents, including Mr. & Mrs. Bill McFee, Mr. & Mrs. Gary Jones, Mr. & Mrs. Jim Marshall, Vickie & Beva Rhodes, attended the W. Va. Farm Bureau annual convention at Flatwoods. First off the local folks had a pleasant surprise when they were met by the smiling face of Calhoun's own Sara Beecher who made sure that all had plenty of tasty food to consume while on their Braxton County sojurn.
The group worked with policy and had training sessions on how to hold better meetings, the importance of parliamentary procedure and the importance of keeping on top of legislative and administrative rules that would negatively impact agriculture and rural life. Tonya Nickerson who is the new Farm Bureau field representative for this area said that she was going to check out The Creston News so she could keep abreast of the local news and happenings. Tonya, who is not a native, has been learning about fried mush (pronounced mursh) and other local staple foods. While she grew up on a dairy farm she apparently never made cottage cheese, or for that matter, regular cheese.
The group adopted policy that reflects the new tone of oil and gas rules after the CNR (Chesapeake) decision and advocated that the legislature make the theft of oil and gas crimes like horse, chicken and car theft so that those who are caught stealing can earn "quality time".
An update was given on the proposed new mobile ag lab which will be used to teach grade school scholars about the state's agriculture.
Charles Wilfong was reelected state president and Frank Nash is the new vice president of the organization.
Down at the Mouth of the Elk the furor continues over the firing of the director of the state archives although now the fickle finger has been pointed at a member of the prominent Goodwin family, a relative of Judge Joe Bob, by the Big Boss. Naturally the state's "most popular governor" cannot stand to have bad things said against him to besmirch his presumed popularity. In the past media folks who didn't tow the line have been advised to speak only positive things to maintain the "image".
On the national scene Her Thighness continues to have problems after a Tee Vee type had the audacity to insist that she give an answer to a question. Of course she couldn't say that she wanted the illegal aliens to have drivers licenses so they could vote for her as that might be considered tacky, let along illegal. | 
