 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
There were 102 folks at C. Bert Marks' 90th birthday party Saturday at the Creston Community Building with the youngest being little Zoe, a newborn. Family, friends & relatives came from far and near for the gala event which had tables loaded with all sorts of food. Bert was at death's door not so long back battling cancer but a miracle happened and the old 'coon hunter is back in the woods of an evening and out & about otherwise enjoying living.
Some area folks attended the Mt. Zion Ox roast & dined on the tasty fare there.
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church. His mother is scheduled for some heart "modifications". Keith's Uncle Ken, who presently is in a nursing home, was tickled to learn that he had made the Creston News.
Victor Nutter had triple bypass surgery and is said to be doing well.
Two of Ottie Brumfield's brothers were calling on him recently.
Those who say that "nuthin happens in Creston" were never so wrong one day last week when lightening hit the pole with the satellite dish in front of the building that was once Lashley dePue's store. The pole was splintered [for all who drive by to see] and those in the building were "lit up" and various electrical type devices were "fried". Across the river the router was fried at the H. Wayne Nida residence and Darrell Hacker's satellite dish "got modified".
A number of local folks attended the memorial service in Elizabeth for Shirley Doty, formerly a long time Fenton Glass employee as well as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Wirt County Farm Bureau. She also worked for Creston Well Service.
There will be a Civil War re-enactment in Elizabeth on October 6.
Some tubs and floats are parked along W. Va. 5 on the dePue straight. A Devonian Shale well has been permitted on the Newman lease.
Local residents received letters from their family doctor advising that, under Obamacare, family doctors will no longer be allowed to see their patients when they are in the hospital. This is said to allow doctors to have more time to see more patients and when one is in the hospital one will be seen by "hospitalists". This is part of the "fundamental change" that the Big Eared One said he was going to implement.
One would hope that the opposition party down in the swamps along the lower Potomac would defund Obamacare but, apparently, some lack spine and some lack something else as judged by a recent report that some brain dead Republicans asked Broadway Joe Manchin who formerly was 'pro-life' and pro first amendment changed and lined up with the limo liberals like Mayor Doomburg on New York City to change parties and be a Republican. He has already shown that he is like the Clintons, into personal power and wealth.
Some local folks attended the SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) meeting in Pittsburgh. The highlight of the event was a talk by Ann McElhinny, the producer of FrackNation, the movie that debunks the fraudulent claims in the Gasland propaganda piece against hydraulic fracturing -- something that has been commonplace in West Virginia since the 1950s. Of course the development of the Marcellus & Utica shales, along with other shales elsewhere in the nation are about to make American independent from foreign oil, much to the dismay of OPEC and international money manipulator and political contributor George Soros who has interests in oil & gas fields in Russia, New Guinea & Brazil. Of course the U. S. taxpayers "gave" $2 billion to develop the offshore Brazilian oil fields.
Charles Russell was calling on Parris Parsons, Ray Gumm and brother Euell at the Miletree center in Spencer.
"Peanut" Bunch was attending to business in Elizabeth.
The local area continues to have rain although the weekend was nice. Some have noted that if there is snow this winter like there was rain this summer, the area will be buried. There were cloudbursts and washouts in nearby areas [again].
Recently a firm announced that they had opened an office in Buckhannon because of the activity in the Utica shale. There are several Marcellus wells in Upshur County but no known Utica completions. Then there was other reports including the fact that Aubrey McClendon, the former Chesapeake CEO who was fired, has $1 billion to spend and has been buying acreage for big bucks. it is also said that one or more of the Marcellus wells in Doddridge County are actually Utica wells. Some years back CNR drilled some Oriskany wells in Roane County on Devonian shale permits so such could well be.
The price of local Pennsylvania grade crude oil rose to $105.12/bbl with Appalachian Light Sweet (drip) fetching $84.76 with Marcellus & Utica light fetching $101.29 and medium $106.62.bbl.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hur Herald. | 
