 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
Rev. Carlos Nutter filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church.
The Creston Community Halloween party is scheduled for Saturday, October 24, starting after dark, of course, at the Community Building. Donations of food and treats are still needed. There will be contests, a ghastly hayride and a meal for both young and older hobgoblins. The event is one of those times when one can dress up and be somebody. For details see Bessie Arthur or Rebecca Starcher.
Peggy & Grant Piercy and Angie Nida were visiting Mr. & Mrs. H. Wayne Nida.
Florence & Franklin Sandy are celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary.
The local area received some more rain and leaves are turning with many tulip poplar leaves already on the ground. Folks who have traveled to the mountains report that the color is at its peak there.
A number of local residents took in the Black Walnut Festival in Spencer. The bushy tails have been busy gathering up all the walnuts locally since there is a paucity of acorns (the real ones, not the outfit affiliated with the big prize winner).
Those who farm are advised to get an updated nutrient management plan which must be signed off by a government man so that when the DEP starts hassling folks about their CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) one can hopefully avoid the $25,0000/day fines they like to threaten folks with. While some think these regulations are for the big feed lots out west, it has been made clear that anyone is fair game for these people.
JBS, a Brazilian company has purchased Pilgrim's Pride, the #1 chicken company in West Virginia. They are also either #1 or #2 in pork and beef. The continuing transfer of assets to foreign countries would indicate that America is on a downward slide. Also the new, enlightened government in Washington has now allowed the importation of chicken from the Peoples Republic of China.
For those who might have missed it, Dr. Norman Borlaug, age 95, passed away. He was known at the father of the "Green Revolution" and developed the wheat that pretty much eliminated starvation in India and many other third world countries. He won a Nobel peace prize back in 1970 when, generally speaking, it had real meaning.
As folks know who have been trading in livestock the price is down but the other night at the Weston sale it was reported that late in the sale the price dropped to $30/cwt. That is change one can believe in, no doubt. The experts say that official unemployment will go above 10% with the real number close 20%. Some feel that the plan is to make the entire country look like Detroit.
Anna Engelke was visiting her parents in Creston and out on Turkey Foot Ridge with W. Harrison Schenerlein IV and his parents.
Nancy Engelke was consulting her physician and undergoing tests.
Mike Graham is undergoing both chemotherapy and radiation therapy for his mouth & throat cancer.
Marathon drilled a Marcellus test well south of Mabie in Randolph County. It was reported that there were three seismic crews working in Webster County (one on Point Mountain) and another is working in Taylor County. Earlier there had been 3-D seismic work in Nicholas County, as well as in Roane, Clay, Kanawha, Jackson, Calhoun, Preston, etc.
EQT (formerly known as Equitable) is said to be planning a 36" line in Webster County and a 20" line along the border of Upshur and Lewis Counties. They are said to have a basement test not too far from the state game farm in Upshur County.
While the price of natural gas has edged up some all the proposed drilling and pipelining cannot be justified on current prices. Obviously someone knows something that the rest of us do not know.
Up in Pennsylvania some folks leased a block of acreage for a bonus of $5,750/acre with a 20% royalty. Royalties from the new Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania are said to range from $250,000 to $1,200,000 annually.
The folks down at the Mouth of the Elk (and points south) made a startling discovery the other day. They learned that Dr. Chu, the Chinaman who is head of the energy department for the big eared one, is hostile to coal and all the underlings and czars are against domestic energy production and free enterprise. Had they thought all those speeches, promises, etc. were "just words"?
While the prices remain low those who are out and about see several logs being hauled including some that obviously must be heading to the chipboard plant at Heaters.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude oil rose $2.25/bbl to $65.00.
Alvin Engelke & Gary Jones attended the West Virginia Farm Bureau Resolutions Committee meeting in Flatwoods. The Wirt County Farm Bureau annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 20 at 6 P. M. at the Senior Citizen center in Elizabeth. All are invited to attend. Please bring a covered dish. Farm Bureau will provide the meat.
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