It seems that this columnist isn’t the one author within the household. Goldenseal (West Virginia Conventional Life) Journal’s Fall 2021 challenge contains a well-researched narrative written by Fairmont resident Gary V. West, my first cousin (our dads had been brothers). Gary and I had been childhood playmates within the Kingmont neighborhood, and we stay shut mates to today.
His article, titled “Stone Man of Kingmont,” profiles the exceptional lifetime of Kingmont resident Steve Onderko, a gifted craftsman, who constructed and stoned a whole bunch of houses and fireplaces in Marion County and past. Onderko, who died in 2000, was my brother-in-law, husband to my late sister, Phyllis. I grew up subsequent door to that first house, constructed as a marriage current for Phyllis, and I recall a baby’s fascination at watching it take form and the gorgeous stonework utilized to the outside. That home, pictured within the article, stays house to Onderko’s daughter, Jennifer Rakocky.
“Stone Man’s” backstory relates that Onderko labored within the coal mine at Kingmont, laboring almost ten years to repay his father’s debt to the corporate retailer. “He’d work his shift, clear up, after which go off to no matter stone venture” he was working. “Because the years handed, his popularity as a stone man rapidly unfold, and job provides got here chasing him.” West interviewed Onderko’s son, Steve Jr., who recounted that his father “demanded perfection, [because] it was his identify on the completed work.” Onderko’s common workday was “from daybreak to nightfall.” And he “didn’t [lay stones] in simply any haphazard manner. He had designs in his thoughts” of how he wished every venture to look. “He selected and positioned every stone in a precise place that match properly bodily and aesthetically.”
My brother-in-law stoned the home the place I grew up, on Kramer Lane in Kingmont. It bears his distinctive contact, which is repeated in additional than 300 houses he constructed and stoned in Marion County.
As I learn “Stone Man of Kingmont,” I used to be crammed with admiration and respect for a real artisan whose expertise, dedication, and back-breaking labor created a legacy that can stand for years to come back.
(Gary V. West is a graduate of Fairmont State College. He’s retired and spends a lot of his free time woodworking and {golfing}. He additionally raises an infinite summer season backyard, preserves the produce and makes wine from his berry harvest. “Stone Man of Kingmont” is his second contribution to Goldenseal. I’m very happy with you, Cuz!)
Fairmont Armory Craft Present
Deliver a pal and store for Christmas on the Fairmont Armory Craft Present. Nov. 5-6, 9 a.m. to three p.m. Sponsored by A&Okay Clothes, a domestically owned enterprise specializing in fashionable bleached and distressed tees and crews. The Nationwide Guard Armory’s deal with is 201 Artillery Drive.
Mountaineer Week Arts & Crafts Honest
The Honest is coming to the Mountainlair Scholar Union on Nov. 5-7 from 11-8, showcasing hand-made crafts from Appalachian artisans. The objects vary from advantageous arts and crafts to edible objects and drinks.
Pawliday Craft & Vendor Honest
Homeward Certain WV, Inc.’s Pawliday Craft & Vendor Honest is coming to Chestnut Ridge Church, Cheat Lake Highway in Morgantown, on Nov. 6 from 11-3. This 12 months’s truthful options artisans, crafters, distributors, meals vehicles, raffles, and kittens! Homeward Certain, previously is a novel, non-profit group sponsored by the WVU Middle for Neighborhood Engagement. It’s a 100% foster group devoted to saving canines and cats whose lives are in jeopardy whereas enriching folks’s lives in Preston and Monongalia Counties. For those who plan to attend the upcoming Honest, Homeward Certain welcomes donations of pet meals and provides. Ship financial donations to Homeward Certain WV, P.O. Field 4592, Morgantown, WV 26504. For extra info, log on at https://iserve.wvu.edu/agency/detail/?agency_id=50928.
On Thursday, Nov. 11, acknowledge and honor our nation’s veterans by taking part in Fairmont’s annual Veterans Day Parade or just having fun with it as a spectator. The Marion County Veterans Council sponsors the parade. For those who’d wish to take part within the parade, please see the registration announcement put up forthcoming on the Parade’s Fb web page. The 2-hour occasion (1–3 p.m.) will kind up at Palatine Park.
Christmas is starting to look in our native retail institutions, so mark your calendar for this on-line Christmas occasion. On Sunday, Dec. 12, from 6–8 p.m. EST, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will probably be introduced stay on stage from the Rosemont Theatre in Rosemont, IL. The touring manufacturing of the beloved Christmas story by Charles M. Schulz options everybody’s favourite Peanuts gang — Linus, Lucy, Snoopy, Sally, and extra, all led by the lovable Charlie Brown — as they uncover the true that means of Christmas. Take pleasure in this timeless story that showcases the unforgettable music of Vince Guaraldi (carried out by a stay, three-piece ensemble). Extra information is coming quickly at https://www.facebook.com/christmaseveonline4k.
