 By Alvin Engelke
The big Creston Halloween party is scheduled for
Saturday, October 25 starting around 5 P. M. with costume judging being the first thing [before the little damsels, devils, monsters, critters from the deep, space aliens and scary politicians mess up their garb]. Afterward there will be food, scary hayrides, etc. The local party is for "children" of all ages and quite often some very famous and some notorious folks stop in Creston, at least for an evening. Costumes will be judged and it is usually considered that the height of the social season in Creston is this event inasmuch as anyone can 'dress up and be somebody'. In times past the actual identity of some "guests" have never been determined.
Rev. Keith Belt filled his regular appointment at the Burning Springs M. E. Church.
Ethel Rader, age 97, of Annamoriah passed away. She was the widow of Herb Rader and she was the daughter of Ebby and Blanch Craddock Maze who lived in the neck of the Sixteen Bend.
Joan Satterfield, age 64, passed away after a 7 year battle with cancer. She was a longtime fixture at the State Road Garage at Mt. Zion, retiring as County Supervisor. She was always seen with her smile and vibrant personality and was known generally as "Sunshine". She is survived by her husband Steve and two children. Her daughter Tia dedicated the last few years to caring for her mother as she bravely fought the cancer.
Amy Nicole Ferrell and Donna Sue were attending to business in Spencer as was Charles Russell.
Jack Boggs is home after undergoing heart surgery. He seems to be doing well.
The Communist Chinese were in West Virginia looking for lumber and logs. They had been buying virgin oak timber from Putin & Co. but apparently they want to find some cheaper wood or perhaps they have now cut all the hardwood forest in Siberia. Earl Ray's and Broadway Joe's folks gave them a tour of the big timber counties as well as a Parkersburg log buying operation.
Charles Russell was calling on Mr. & Mrs. Parris Parsons, Ray Gumm and brother Euell at Miletree. It was noted that Edith Kittle's roommate Gladys Cain is not doing well at all.
It was reported that Noble Energy had a big fire at their well near Centerville in Tyler County. Not so long back Antero, while drilling a horizontal well in Doddridge County hit into a producing lateral well on the same pad. Apparently there was no surface or intermediate strings of casing run (with the appropriate cement) as the natural gas came into a number of water wells in the neighborhood. It was reported that one old abandoned well that was full of logs, rocks and trash provided quite some excitement as all the debris was blown into the air.
Some new calves have arrived.
Ann Day, Kitty Roberts and Thorn Roberts were in Burning Springs and Creston looking at the leaves and checking on their oil interests.
The big news in the oil patch is the purchase by Southwest from Chesapeake of 413,000 acres of Marcellus and Utica rights along with 1500 wells of which 435 are Marcellus & Utica. The price is just a "cool" $5.375 billion [that's with a "B"]. According to the press release the average daily production is 50,000 boe (bbl. of oil equivalent) which is made up of 184,000 mcf. of gas, 20,000 bbl. of ngl. (natural gas liquids) and 5,000 bbl. of condensate or drip. It was said that the total proven reserves in the deal were in excess of 221 million bbl. of oil equivalents (mmboe).
The Times of London noted that the United States is now the largest oil producer in the world, thanks to the new technology unlocking the various shales in the nation. The biggest oil and gas field in the world now is the Marcellus, Utica and [soon] Rogersville shales in the Appalachian area with West Virginia being right in the middle. Those who keep tract of construction, etc. note that there are now $58 billion worth of construction currently in progress or soon to start. These include fractionation plants, cracker plants, pipelines, LNG export facilities, etc. Presently the biggest well in the nation is Triad Hunter's Utica well near Middlebourne in Tyler County and, it is said, the best Marcellus well is in Ritchie County.
The folks doing all these projects apparently asked the State of West Virginia about the skill of the natives (those who can pass the tinkle test) and apparently the state has now more or less admitted that the abysmal condition of the state's educational system cannot provide graduates who are educated to do math, science, etc. Of course the state's secret approval of the Big Eared One's common core only makes the problem worse. To get an idea of the magnitude of the problem one only needs to look at the math books (Ray's Arithmetic) that were used in the 8th grade over a century ago and compare that text to what high school graduates might try to do now.
It was noted that one of the major players in the state's Marcellus play is selling the gas to itself for the basis of paying royalties and taxes and, of course, cheating landowners, the counties and the state treasury. This is why it is important for leases to say that payment is to be calculated on the gross from an arm's length sale. One would hope that the State of West Virginia would go after the firm, which is actually a foreign government, and make them pay up.
Some folks noted that they have been feasting on fresh squirrel, gravy and fixins. One fellow noted that he saw a big grey that "was big as a cat". Others noted that they have never seen so much mast.
Sandra Kerby, Duane Mace, Florence Bishop, Mr. & Mrs. Russ Cottrell, Mr. & Mrs. William J. Ward & Mr. & Mrs. David Dobbins were all attending to business in Creston Friday evening.
Suellen and Bessie Arthur attended the big flea market up in Ohio and visited with Bessie's sisters Blanche & Bethel. Blanche had fallen down a flight of stairs some time back has been undergoing therapy.
The election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4 and early voting is now available for those who might be traveling, etc. In other states the early voting is used to have bus loads of voters go from county to county and state to state to assist with the "fundamental transformation". On the local scene folks can make a positive difference and should get out and vote as there are some very good candidates and some, well . . . . . if George Soros is backing you, as an example . . . . Then one of the congressional candidates worked hard to make sure local residents could not go after big oil & gas companies that had cheated them after CNR & Chesapeake were found liable in the Tawney case.
Reflecting worldwide uncertainty, the concern about the lack of control of viral diseases, the results of the fundamental transformation of the nation, etc, the stock market took a big hit and the price of crude oil fell. On the markets the west Texas crude price rose to $82.97 from a low of $80.29 while the price of Brent (North Sea crude) was $86.21. The local price is based on the price of west Texas intermediate but is always lower inasmuch as no one can deliver barge loads to the refinery.
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hur Herald. | 
