By Bob Weaver
A tradition established by the late Randall and Blanche Whytsell continues, the Whytsell Reunion on the lower West Fork of the Little Kanawha, a throw-back to hundreds of reunions and gatherings common to the region in the last century.
This year's event is set for Sunday, with a covered dish dinner at 1 p.m.
Perhaps the common element to earlier days is the huge tables of food, all kinds of country cookin' brought by the participants from the area and out-of-state returnees, accompanied by the special dessert table.
And if you don't like the soda drinks, there's home made tea, perked coffee or a drink of spring water from the Hart Spring (named for Civil War renegade Nancy Hart).
Peggy Whytsell Stemple, she and her husband Marvin are keeping the gathering alive, said "What it's really about is old neighbors and friends re-uniting, and doin' some talkin."
Like times past, kids will catch craw-dads and minnows from the creek, boys will pound trees with sticks (or each other), generally play in the creek, and climb the steep wooded hillsides, sacrificing their electronic devices and 21st Century technology entertainment for a brief time.
Then there is mountain and gospel music, not fancy, the tunes ringing across the gathering and up and down the valley, not much different than 100 years ago. You'll hear the annual rendition of Randall's tune "My West Fork Valley Home."
But it's the visiting, "talk'in up," that's the essence of such
get-togethers, catching up on changes, ups and downs, and the general well-being of chatterers that takes up most of the afternoon.
Peggy Stemple always adds, "You don't have to be a Whytsell to come,"
lamenting on the hundreds of people who have attended who have gone to the great beyond.
See WHYTSELL GATHERING ON THE FORK - "Come Home, It's Suppertime"
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