I am saddened to have to say the Independence Concert and Fireworks have been cancelled due to old man weather! We tried but the consensus between the Board of the Band and the Sound Crew was cancel.
Bright spot is that there is going to be an attempt to reschedule this Concert within the next few weeks. We will keep you posted as this is one of my few chances to “blow my brains out” every year!
I did get word today that my high school is going to have an Alumni Band march on to the football field at half-time on Sept. 4 during our All-School Reunion! Guess who will be there with her baritone sax!
July 1, 2009: I have been saying Rain, Rain GO AWAY! all day - and it did. But it came back. Then it was pretty and then the rain came back.
We will try again tomorrow, July 2 to hold the Concert and Fireworks. The Swim Team will be back with their bake sale and the pool concession stand will be open. We may be making a few adjustments in opening acts but the Shinnston Community Band will be there.
As I left the Park just a few minutes ago, even with it raining now, cars were streaming into the Park. Shows what a following this Band has. The weatherman says only a 30% chance of rain on July 2. Here is hoping for NO RAIN!
June 30, 2009: Tonight was final rehearsal and it was awesome. There will be 65 musicians blowing their brains out (OK, the drum line always has to be different) for the pleasure and entertainment of all who come to Shinnston City Park Wednesday, July 1, 2009. Think of it! How many cities with a population of less than 2500 can maintain an all volunteer group of that size?
The Community Band started in 1996 as an off-shoot of a Shinnston High School Alumni Band that got together for the All-School Reunion. Musicians - both amateur and a few professional - ranging in age from 6th grade to in their 80s come from all over the area to be part of this band. This will be the only performance for the Summer.
There are several performers starting at 7 PM prior to the Shinnston Community Band playing at approximately at 9 PM. And the Fireworks will start during the final number - Stars and Stripes Forever, of course!
So bring your lawn chairs and psst! if you get there later than 6 PM you will have a bit of a walk! Now repeat after me (listen up Mr. Weatherman) Rain, rain, Go Away! Rain, rain, GO AWAY!!! (The rain date is July 2 but everyone is repeating our words - Right?)
There are many celebrations going on in our area to celebrate the Independence of this wonderful Country. Shinnston believes in making it possible to do a lot of celebrating with friends and family.
Shinnston kicks off the celebrations with the annual Independence Concert and Fireworks on July 1 at City Park. There are several “warm-up” entertainers scheduled to start at 7 PM until the Shinnston Comunity Band plays at approximately 9 PM. The fireworks, provided by Shinnston Area Development Association, will follow the immediately after the Community Band plays Stars & Stripes Forever! Admission is free. Bring your lawn chairs. The pool concession stand will be open and the Shinnston Swim Team will have their annual bake sale.
Another annual event in the Shinnston area is the 4-T Arena Rodeo. This is the 17th annual Dodge Mountaineer Roundup and World Championship Rodeo. It takes place at the 4-T Arena on Corbin Branch Road July 3-5. Take Exit #125 from I-79, go west at the top of the ramp and go straight past the Exxon station (WV Rt 73) and turn right onto Corbin Branch Road. The action starts at 8 PM July 3 & 4 and at 7 PM on July 5. Admission is $12, $14, $17 each respective night for adults and $10 for children. Sunday night will culminate with fireworks. There will be food vendors offering everthing from ribs & BBQ to kettle corn and ice cream. There will be events in bull riding, steer wrestling, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, calf roping, team roping, and barrel racing.
On July 3 the annual Symphony Under the Stars will be presented at the Clarksburg City Park at 7:30 PM. The Wheeling Symphony Orchestra will perform. The Wheeling Symphony is an excellent orchestra. (Your host at the Gillum House was honored to have been a member of the Wheeling Symphony Training Orchestra while a student at Toronto High School, Toronto, Ohio in the 1960s and is currently a member of the Shinnston Community Band.)
Gillum House is located less than 10 miles from 4-T Arena, less than 15 miles from Clarksburg City Park, and centrally located to all celebrations throughout the Region. Our Birthday Celebration Rate is in effect to celebrate the Birthday of our Country. Since we will celebrate year #13 on July 3, your 3rd night of this 3-day Holiday will be $13 + 6% tax (Shinnston does not have the hotel tax!)
June 25, 2009: Gillum House is about to reach adulthood! Yes, as of July 3, the Gillum House will have to pay adult rates. We opened as a B & B on July 3, 1996. To celebrate, we are going to give our guests the present. From today until July 14 with any consecutive 2-night reservation, add a 3rd night for $13. This does not apply with any discounts or Gift Certificates. Come help us celebrate!
Don’t forget the July 1 Independence Concert and Fireworks at Shinnston City Park. It is always an awesome event. Call now or reserve online.
June 21, 2009: After our weekend guests departed, I offered dear old Dad dinner out at the restaurant of his choice. We went to Ruby Tuesday’s. He still remembers it as our first experience was in Maryland off I-68. There were 4-levels of goodies on the salad bar! No longer true. He was happy with the freshness of the veggies but there was no fruit and only 1-level now.
On the way home, we went over to the entrance of the Pete Dye Golf Course to see just exactly how far away we are. Well, Folks, let me tell you it is exactly 6.3 miles from the Gillum House to the Pete Dye Golf Course. Since we offer breakfast at your time and tailored to the dietary needs of our guests, no tee time is too early and we serve the freshest coffee off the plantation.
They close one side of the 4-lane portion of the highway by the Pete Dye Golf Course and turn it into a parking lot for the week. The tickets were all sold through charities as fundraisers. I hope many of you are coming to this event because the scenery is absolutely gorgeous, the weather is predicted to be extremely cooperative this week, and the golfing competition excellent. Come enjoy some great golfing.
June 13, 2009: After our guests departed this morning, I joined the “cleaning detail” at the Shinn House. I am happy to announce that after a hiatus of several years, the Gillum House is once again able to take interested guests for a tour of the Shinn Log House.
This 2-story log house was built by Levi Shinn (founder of Shinnston) circa 1778. It is the original structure (not a re-creation) on the original site. It has 2 rooms downstairs and 2 rooms on the second floor. It is unusual in that it has 18th century “central heating” in addition to the fact it is 2-story and not a cabin with a loft. Most log houses or cabins were built with the fireplace at one of the outside walls and the chimney constructed on the outside in such way as to be able to knock it down when it caught fire - saving the cabin. The Shinn house has 2 back-to-back fireplaces that are built of stone, as is the chimney. When the stones of the chimney got hot, there was heat - albeit minimal - for the second story. It was more heat than was normally found on the econd floor.
The Historical Association is hoping to have the house open to the Public on Sundays this Summer but our guests can have a personal tour with your host. Call for your reservastions or book online.
June 9, 2009: Just back from blowing my brains out. Not what you think. I play baritone sax in the Shinnston Community Band and Tuesday evenings we get to blow our brains out at rehearsal. No brag, just fact - we are AWESOME!!! This is going to be a great concert.
We will be playing a variety of music from marches to a Chorale to Jimmy Buffet. We have some kids as young as 6th grade in the band who do very well - they are developing into some very good musicians reaching to better themselves as they play with the Band. We will be playing our perennial Independence Concert selections: Armed Forces Salute as veterans of each service are invited to stand in recognition and Stars and Stripes Forever on July 1 at Shinnston City Park. Bring chairs or blankets and your picnic supper or get supper at the pool concession stand. The Swim Team will have a bake sale as always as a fundraiser. The warm-up band starts about 7:00 P.M. and the Shinnston Community Band will play at approx. 8:30 P.M. Many come spend the day at the park and pool, and what better way to spend a Summer day! Do not forget there will be fireworks after the concert. There is usually about 30 minutes of fireworks. Some of the best you will find anywhere!
Come on out to the Concert and Fireworks and see how Shinnston celebrates America’s Birthday.
June 05, 2009: The PGA Nationwide Tour Player’s Cup Golf Tournament will be at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia - less than 10 miles from the Gillum House - June 22-28. And once you get on US Rte. 19 South (one block from the house) there is one well-marked left turn and follow the road to the golf course. With our breakfast times available between 4A.M. and 10 A.M., we can accomodate all our guests for their tee times or when they want to get to the Course. It is a lovely drive. As you drive south on US Rte 19 you pass the Sunset-Ellis Drive-in, second oldest operating drive-in in West Virginia showing movies Friday thru Monday nights until Labor Day. Meadowbrook Road is quite scenic and it is not unusual to see deer or wild turkeys in the fields. The Pete Dye Golf Club is on the right at the Smith Chapel.
After a “grueling day” at the golf course you owe it to yourself to keep the appointment you made earlier at the Spa, the yellow building now on the left as you return to Shinnston. Your host can attest to the wonderful massages offered at this Spa. Call now to get the Pete Dye Special rate at the Gillum House.
June 1, 2009: Welcome to the new www.gillumhouse.com! We decided it was time to get a “New Dress” for the old girl. More photos show you the Gillum House more completely. There will be more photos of the sites of the area and the art gallery to come as soon as I get time to go take them! The big TA-DA is that we now have WiFi Internet!! (I have some really good kids! They gave me the routers and even set it up.)
We have to toast the new web site so make your reservation in June telling us - I saw it on the Blog – and Kathleen has a very Special Gift for you. We look forward to welcoming you to our home and our City. It truly is A Heart Among the Hills where you will be treated like a guest but will feel like family!
Shinnston has awakened from a cold winter. Our Spring flowers have bloomed and gone and Summer is putting on her finery. The rhododendrons are blooming! They are so beautiful! The Drive-in is open, the Museum is open, the pool will open on May 24, and activities are planned all Summer.
The Garden Club engaged the services of The Groundskeeper in Enterprise to design and execute a landscape plan for the intersection of US Rte 19 and WV Rte 131. We hope visitors will enjoy its beauty and rest on the benches provided.
Gillum House has copies of the Supplement the Blueprint Community Team presented in the Fairmont Times-West Virginian. Be sure to get one to read at your leisure.
Come to Shinnston and see why it is – A Heart Among the Hills!
Old Man Winter decided to put a VERY slick snow down over north-central West Virginia this afternoon. Sections of I-79 were closed because of accidents (WVU is playing South Florida tonight) of people going the game hitting the black ice. Shinnston was so slick, the City called off the Parade - we did not want anyone to fall and get hurt. BUT….. the band played on!
The Shinnston Community Band had about ¾ of the band present (the Conductor and the tuba player were the last - and KEY - arrivals!) and somewhere between 80 and 100 people were in attendance. Yttrium a high school quartet from neighboring Bridgeport, was the warm-up group and were quite good. And then the Community Band took over - AWESOME! I cannot decide whether Go Tell It In the Mountain or Sleigh Ride was my favorite - both have a strong bass line but Mountain was great, one of the few times I got told to “bring it out!” with the baritone sax. The snow had stopped by the end of the concert.
Call to find out what our special is for next weekend (Dec 12-13) for the Christmas Cantata that tells you that Christmas is No Time to Diet!
The Shinnston Christmas lights were hung with care last Friday by the Shinnston Area Development Association - the non-profit organization that owns and maintains the lights. They also sponsor the annual Christmas Parade and Concert by the Shinnston Community Band.
The Parade starts at 6:30 pm (they give the Catholics time to clear their parking lot after Saturday Mass) and forms up at the old Shinnston High School and comes down Pike Street. The parade watchers then gather at the Baptist Lighthouse on Rebecca Street for hot chocolate and cookies (provided by SADA) and the Christmas Concert. The Community Band was formed in 1996 after a Shinnston High School Reunion and has members from all over the area from Middle School to people in their 70s, amateurs and professionals. Go to their web site Shinnston Community Band and click on the Listen to Us button to hear this wonderful band. (If you go up either the trombone line or the tuba line, you will see your host blowing her brains out on the baritone saxophone in the photo.)
December 13 at 7pm the Lumberport Baptist Church is performing a Christmas Cantata with their Choir, Children’s Choir, and the Youth - backed by an orchestra! Your host at the Gillum House was asked to be in that orchestra (poor things, I agreed). Sunday we had a rehearsal that included everyone. This is going to be such a nice performance! A fun evening is promised. The Lumberport Baptist Church is located in the City of Lumberport, WV right on WV Rt 20 (on the left as one drives north).
We were blessed with a visit from the innkeepers at Claiborne House, Rocky Mount, Virginia and their girls. They were on their way to see Pittsburgh. They visited several of the places I had recommended and had a wonderful time I am told. Pittsburgh is just a couple hours away. We were able to get one of thise rare photos - the entire family in one picture.
We hope you will come see us too!
November 19 is the Community Thanksgiving Service in Shinnston. Then, Thanksgiving Weekend, Prickett’s Fort has its Christmas Market and Lambert’s Winery is having an Open House.The Shinnston Community Band is in rehearsal for the Christmas Concert that follows the Parade on December 6. Then on December 13, the Lumberport Baptist Church is doing a Christmas Cantata. I am in rehearsals for both - yes, someone asked me to be in the orchestra for the Cantata. It is going to be fun I think (the music is NOT however) since one of the songs is titled, No time to Diet! All in all, if one is looking for a place to go with activities, Shinnston and its surrounds is where to go. Call for your reservations soon. We pulled the 18th Century Thanksgiving because circumstances made the whole holiday unavailable. We do have one room available as if this date (Gillum Room) and anyone booking it is invited to just join us with our friends for the Thanksgiving dinner as our guests. Watch for our New Years Eve Special coming soon.