Tennessee Art League shares Edward Bodnar’s captivating photos

Time 6-9 PM
Sat Feb 4th
808 Broadway Nashville

One of the things I love about my home state of WV so much is the people. Unfortunately anytime you see a story in the mass media about us it is almost always a story about a tragedy that has happened in a coal mine and/or a personal interest story of how destitute the people of our great state are. Invariably the reporter will pick people to interview who are poor, not well groomed and don’t have the best living conditions but then they make them to be representatives of the entire state.

Even though I do not currently live there, I do still consider this my home and find this to be more than just annoying, it is poor journalism. So I thought I would start working on a photo essay that will tell you as one of the greatest journalists Paul Harvey would say, “The rest of the Story”.

Just before Fathers Day (and West Virginia Day) Jason Keeling posted to his blog A Better West Virginia, which is dedicated to improving West Virginia and its perception, an opportunity for those in and outside of West Virginia to Network for the betterment of the state. So I posted about my project (which I will get into the origins of in a later post) and received a response from Mark Burdette (pictured Left). Mark invited me to come photograph him and the people he works with, which I gladly accepted.

Above is a group photo I took of the group. (Left to right) Mark Burdette, Jennifer Willits, Rob Wilmink, and Amy Duncan all work together with Legacy Asset Strategies which is a company that helps entrepreneurs manage their assets, and helps them with an exit strategy when it comes time for retirement, so that they can leave their legacy (their business) in-tact. When I was setting up to do the photos, Rob was busy watching the stock market as he was doing some trading, something that the media doesn’t show West Virginians doing. Amy and Jennifer were busy in their offices taking care of their clients needs, and Mark was quite the gracious host, I truly appreciate all his time away from his work that I’m sure he ended up doing after I left. I only got to spend an hour getting to know these four but I must say that it was truly a pleasure getting to know them.

I was looking for an example of what West Virginians are truly like and I was not disappointed. Mark, Jennifer, Rob and Amy are all educated, highly motivated, articulate, and well groomed as most West Virginians are. If Jason had not posted on his Blog about the networking opportunities, or had Mark not responded to my response, I would have been the one who would have lost out for not getting to know these four, so I want to thank both of you for being involved in making WV a better place.

Steve Martin passes the Apple Butter Stir to his wife Ruth during the Day long process of making apple butter

Growing up in West Virginia, I was privileged to be a part of a different cultural experience than most people in the US. Life was simpler. Family was important, and we all would pitch in to help with what ever task needed to be done. In the fall my grand parents would take the time to make apple butter in a day long process that usually started at 5am.

A fire was started and when the coals of the fire were just right the 25 gallon copper kettle would be placed over the fire pit and filled with apple sauce. Then for the next 8-12 hours the family would take turns stiring the apple butter till it took on that signature red color, and became thicker. My grandmother would then add the cinnamon oil and cook it just a little longer, till the recipe was finally right.

When my grandmother would give the OK a couple of us would carefully raise the handle of the kettle, and place a pole through it to carry the kettle off the fire and up to the area my grandmother had set up to can the apple butter. Everyone who helped got plenty of apple butter to take home with them, and my grandmother would usually still have enough to last her all year, and give quite a few jars of it away to friends, and those who were in need. It was a lot of work, but it really created a sense of family and community.

Logging companies in WV call this selective cutting

This scene is pretty common around West Virginia these days. At first I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but asked a friend and he explained that this was what logging companies were calling selective cutting these days.

I understand the need to cut trees for timber, without it we could not build houses or furniture, or have paper to write on, but this really has me incensed. Since when does selective cutting mean cut down everything but a couple of trees per acre. What happened to responsibly managing our forest lands for future use, and why is there so many tree tops just lying on the ground rotting when families in WV could use this as fire wood or paper mills could use it to make pulp.

We have come a long way from the early 1900’s when logging was done by hand and only the biggest trees were selected to be cut, then removed by horse or mule. We have certainly made a change, but I think this shows that change for the sake of change isn’t always good.

Fly fishing on the Blackwater river, Davis, WV

Sometimes the best way to get away from it all, is to grab your fishing pole and head for the river. This fisherman was fly fishing the Black Water River not far from the state resort and just above the Falls. I had stopped by a bridge crossing the river and made my way down to the bank, looking for just the right image to capture. I was so engrossed in making an image of the river, that at first I didn’t even see him standing there. Once I did though I realized that this would be a great shot to include in my project of capturing life in WV as it really happens.

Dr. Kent Moss shows off some of his conservation work

One of my mentors and friends growing up in Elkins was Dr. Kent Moss. We attended church together, he taught me how to ski, and how to work with nature. I don’t get to see him very often these days, but occasionally we will get together when I’m back in town visiting family.

Last summer, Kent wanted to show me some of the work he had been doing on some land he owns. Our first stop was an area that is known for its frequent floods, which he turned into a tree farm, growing christmas trees. The real jewel to this place though was an area of about an acre that he had enclosed and put under nets that had all kinds of fruit trees, vegetables, and other edible plants that he was carefully cultivating. Later that afternoon Kent took me to his farm in Upsher Co. where he showed off all the hard work he was doing there to make the place look very nice, and ecologically friendly one of the projects was this pond he was showing off.

It was this trip that made me realize that if anyone should have received a Nobel Prize for their work on the environment it should have been Kent, not Al Gore. You see Al is all about the media hype and his message, he really has a “Do as I say not as I do” mentality, His electric bill is higher than some cities. Kent on the other hand quietly goes about making his part of the environment better than he found it, Planting trees, growing his own food, and reducing his environmental foot print and cleaning up after others.

After all these years Kent is still mentoring me, now mostly by example, he is showing what environmentalism really should be!