October 17, 2009: There is joy in Mudville tonight – otherwise known as the Gillum House. A kind lady in Maryland saw a doll on eBay and in searching for info about the maker found our web site and sent me the link to the item. It is a wood carved doll made by my late Mother-in-law, Margaret Panek, that was signed and dated by her – 1966. We won the auction! Whoopee!!
October 17, 2009: November is a month that West Virginia honors Veterans. I received the following message from Maxine Weser, Director of the Bice-Ferguson Memorial Museum in Shinnston: On Friday November 6th, we will have a West Virginia Humanities program at 7 pm. The portrayal will be of Col. Ruby Bradley of Spencer, WV…the most decorated female soldier of WW II. Of course the Veterans Day parade will be at 11 am. The program at the Museum will begin at noon on November 11th.. We will honor all Veterans. The 2 honorees this year are Carl Junior Nuzum and Floyd Fullen. Refreshments are served at all programs.
A reminder to all those with a valid military ID that reservations are to be made at the individual bed & breakfasts (all of whom are members of the MountainState Association of Bed & Breakfasts) for a FREE night lodging with breaklfast the night of November 10, 2009. It is our way of saying Thank You for your service in a way that counts. The Gillum House wants our Veterans to be here in Shinnston when the avtivities start. All three of our rooms are available to a Veteran (or Active Duty).
October 13, 2009: In the 18th Century most cabins were one room with a loft for the children to sleep in and a fireplace on the back wall for cooking/warmth etc. The chimney was built outside the cabin because chimneys were prone to catching fire so were built to be knocked down away from the cabin. It was much easier to build a chimney than a cabin and to lose everything in that cabin would be devasting on the frontier. Levi Shinn, however, circa 1778, built not only a 2-story log house with 4 rooms but it also had 18th century central heat. His house had not one, but two fireplaces – back to back – with a stone chimney in the center of the house. The fires heated the stones and although it was not much heat, it was more than was found in most 2-story houses in that period. Come to the Gillum House and go see this wonderful piece of history. There is no admission charge – just a free-will donation.
One of the two fireplaces at the 1778 Shinn Log House.
Shinn descendents from California & Pennsylvania
- The Levi Shinn Log House framed by Fall leaves
October 12, 2009: Today some Shinn descendents visited Shinnston. The Gillum House is able to take our guests inside the log house that was built circa 1778. This is the original house on the original site. It is not a re-creation. It is estimated that 90% of the outside wall logs are original. This could be you coming back to visit history. Come back to where history has not been forgotten.
October 8, 2009: GOD and Nature are at the canvas again, giving us mere mortals fantastic beauty. The leaves are changing to their glorious finery. Today as we went to Clarksburg I noticed that some hills are 40 to 50% while there are others at 20%. I suggest planning the leaf peeping trips soon because the difference today from what it was Monday was dramatic! The oranges and reds are dotting the hillsides being framed by the yellows and greens around them for a more glorious effect.
If you enjoy photography or just like covered bridges, now is the time. Many of the covered bridges have a lovely backdrop of leaves. Oh the great photo op this time of year presents.
Although we have not had a frost yet, I have turned the furnace on some. Since we still have a chance of some really warm temps, the A/C units are still in place, but snuggle under the down-filled comforters (Harris Room is feather/down-free so that comforter is fiberfill) or set the thermostat for the electric baseboard heat in your room to your comfort zone.
Maria’s hills may have been alive with music, but Kathleen’s hills are alive with wonderful color. Do come see our beautiful West Virginia Hills.
October 6, 2009: Veteran’s Day is just over a month away and plans need to be made – including reservations. 9 West Virginia and 1 Ohio bed & breakfasts are joining Gillum House to say, Thank you for your Service! On the night of November 10, 2009 (so the Vets are onsite for the Veteran’s Day activities if any) the following bed & breakfasts are making rooms available for free to Active Duty or Veterans with a valid military ID. Those marked with an asterisk are offering ALL of their guestrooms. Reservations need to be made with the inn themselves but they must be told it is a Veterans Day Thank You reservation at the time of making the reservation. It will not count if mentioned later and ID WILL be required.
| Inn Name | City, State | Phone | rooms |
| Gillum House* | Shinnston, WV | 888-592-0177 | 3 |
| A Nature’s Song* | Mannington, WV | 304-986-3401 | 2 |
| Chestnut Ridge* | Dunmore, WV | 304-456-4280 | 4 |
| Cunningham House* | Spencer, WV | 304-927-2022 | 4 |
| Elkhorn Inn | Landgraff, WV | 800-708-2040 | 2 |
| Mt Airy B & B | Slaty Fork, WV | 304-572-5208 | 2 |
| Laurel Lodge | Harpers Ferry, WV | 304-535-2886 | 1 |
| Manor Inn | Berkeley Springs, WV | 800-974-5770 | 2 |
| Thomas Shepherd Inn | Shepherdstown, WV | 304-876-3715 | 2 |
| Hilltop Haven B & B | Toronto, OH | 888-455-8722 | 1 |
| * = all rooms at the inn |
September 25, 2009: Frontier Days is literally in my front yard! As it is every year, the Skee Ball game is directly in front of my front porch. The street to my driveway is blocked off for pedestrian traffic only with the Kiddie Rides across the street from our side yard and the Big Kid Carnival across the street from my front porch (after passing the Midway that is). There is food, fun, people seeing friends they have not seen in a long time, organizations in town have booths set up for games or food, and entertainment. At 5:00 the Singing Sisters performed. The Hoof & Paws Parade was at Lions Club stage at 6:00. At 8PM Blackhander and Chris Newbrough will perform on Lions Stage. Tonight is also Homecoming for Lincoln High School but there are still many people at Frontier Days.
Thursday the Miss Frontier Days Pageant was held on the Lions Club stage. Miss Courtney Mullenix of Parsons was chosen Miss Frontier Days. She will compete in the Miss WV Fairs & Festivals Pageant in Charleston in January. She has also won a $500 scholarship. David Daughtery performed at 8:00 to the delight of the crowd.
Tomorrow, Saturday, is the Frontier Days Parade at 11 AM. We are honored to provide lodging for the Parade Marshall, Colonel Richard Carvell (Shinnston High School Class of 1949). Colonel Carvell has a highly decorated and long service to this Country, having been awarded among other medals, the Silver Star w/V, Bronze Star w/V, 3 Purple Hearts, and more. He is such a soft-spoken gentleman and a REAL hero.
The Living History exhibit is located on Rebecca Street. These lodges and their occupants will take you back in time. The Chili Cook-off will be at the American Legion and Reuben Perdue, voice of the Cougars, from WAJR-FM (and Chugging for Charity fame) will be one of the judges! For entertainment come to the Lions Club Stage where Yttrium performs at 1:00; Lumberport Middle School Danceline at 2:00; Mountain State Cloggers at 3:00; and Open Mic Karaoke from 4 to 6 PM. At 8:00 Break Mountain will perform at the Lions Stage. Come join the fun!!
September 6, 2009: It was Friday night and in West Virginia and the Ohio Valley where I grew up, Friday night is high school football!! Over the Labor Day Weekend, Toronto High School in Toronto, Ohio, had their All-School Reunion and Friday night was FOOTBALL! Toronto vs Wellsville! Mr. Kirk George, the current band director, invited the alums to take the field at halftime with the current band. Guess who was there? Rickety knees and all.
Blowing my Brains Out!Rehearsing the Fight Song - the cheerleader heard me play!
Rehearsing the Fight Song - the cheerleader heard me play!
We take the field at halftime! Once again a Red Knight!
There are currently 30 in the Toronto Red Knights Band and most of them are 7th, 8th, and Freshmen! They have 2 Seniors, 3 Juniors, and 2 Sophmores – but what heart they have. They played beautifully.
The Red Knights fell to Wellsville by a score of 15 – 14 (they missed the point after with the first TD) but they held their own against a much larger school. It was a night I will never forget.
August 31, 2009: There are 17 covered bridges remaining in West Virginia. We are blessed with having 9 of them within 60 miles or less of our front door. We have created routings to them that include crafts shops, antique shops, a winery, and more. We tailor them to the particular interests of our guests. One of the routes goes north to Barrackville, then west over to the Fish Creek Bridge, and then east and north to Morgantown for the Dent’s Run Bridge before heading south to the bridges at Philippi and Carrolton. Another takes you to the Simpson Creek Bridge, then west to the Fletcher Bridge, and further west to the Center Point Bridge before coming back east to a West Virginia crafts shop and continuing south to the Walkersville Bridge before coming back north to the winery and another craft shop with a glass blower. A third routing would take you past the home of the founder of Mother’s Day on the way to the Philippi Bridge. Then south to the Carrolton Bridge on the way to the West Virginia Wildlife Center at French Creek. The 1.25 mile paved trail through the woods takes you past every animal indigenous to West Virginia. Then on south and east to the Walkersville Bridge before heading north to the winery. Each of these routings is available as a package with packed lunches (the winery is a lovely place to dine on your luscious lunch) and Kathleen’s homemade manicotti dinner (including the pasta) with her French bread served oven to table! Or go to Arthurdale, the Round Barn, antiquing…. Kathleen has a routing for you.
Coming soon on our web site will be photos we took recently of some of the covered bridges. They are beautiful with the green of the trees framing them but coming soon will be the glorious color of Fall. These bridges are fabulous surounded by Fall color. Call soon for your Fall Foliage Tours.
August 28. 2009: There have been a lot of questions about the Miss Frontier Days Pageant so I am going to post some of the rules. Full rules and entry forms are available at City Hall 40 Main Street, Shinnston. The deadline for entry is September 18, 2009. There is also a Junior Miss Frontier Days and a Little Miss Frontier Days. Some rules for Miss Frontier Days are:
The Frontier Day’s Queen Pageant will be held on Thursday, September 24, 2009.
The following is some of the pageant rules that you agree to abide by:
- A Contestant must be sixteen (16) years of age and may not have reached her 22nd birthday by January 1, 2010.
- The Queen must remain single throughout her reign, which continues until the crowning of a new queen the following year. If for any reason “Miss Frontier Days” should marry during her reign, she forfeits her title and the 1st Runner-Up will succeed.
- Contestants must be a resident of West Virginia for at least six (6) months prior to the pageant and a resident of the United States.
- Miss Frontier Days must remain a West Virginia resident during her reign.
- Contestants must be interviewed by the judges individually on the day designated by the pageant committee.
- Contestants will also compete in: Street Wear, Evening Gown and On-Stage Question. Contestants will be judged on poise, natural beauty, character and the ability to be an ambassador for the Frontier Days Fair.
- Part of the responsibly of the Fair Queen is to have an active part in fair week activities and the crowning of her successor the following year.
- The Queen will be required to participate in the State Competition at the West Virginia Fairs and Festivals Convention held in January, 2010 in Charleston, WV. (Weekend expenses, including one room for lodging paid for by pageant)
- Miss Frontier Days may not enter other pageants that would conflict with her competing at the State Fair Competition. The Queen must consult the executive director before entering any other pageant.
- You may only be selected once as “Miss Frontier Days”.
- Must complete application and pay non-refundable entry fee of $50.00.
Checks to be made out to “Frontier Days” and received no later than September 18, 2009.
August 28, 2009: Remember the commercial, “the best part of waking up”? Well just how fresh IS your coffee? Our latest delivery of coffee beens arrived today. We now have 18 countries of origin of regular green coffee beans and 5 countries in decafe. Today we received Hawaii Kauai, Tanzania Peaberry, and Costa Rica Cafe Vida. We also have Hawaii Kona Blend, New Guinea, Zimbabwe, Panama, Brazil, and many more.
Each evening our guests choose which coffee(s) – yes, we have several coffee pots so each room of guests can choose one – to serve for breakfast. It is then roasted and ready to be fresh-ground seconds before perking to give you, our guest, the best and freshest coffee. So we invite you to come to the Gillum House where you wake up smelling FRESH coffee! Call us at 888-592-0177 or book online from any of our rooms pages.
August 26, 2009: Labor Day Weekend in this Region of West Virginia is chock-full of Events. For the football fans, WVU is playing Liberty. Clarksburg has the Italian Heritage Festival (music, song & dance, food, and fun). The Stonewall Jackson Heritage Jubilee at Jackson Mill is wonderful! The Fireman’s Fair at Jane Lew is a HUGE crafts and flea market. It is the last weekend of the season for the Sunset-Ellis Drive-In. Sept 4 the Hillbilly Gypsies perform at Prickett’s Fort and Sept 5 Sagebrush Round-up in Fairmont will feature Country & Western music. I am certain there is much more than I am aware of. And Gillum House is in the middle of everything. The road to many of these events can take you to covered bridges or the winery – just ask us for a route to fit YOUR interests.
August 24, 2009: We had a great Shinnston Community Band Concert Saturday (our guests enjoyed it immensely) with over 40 musicians performing for over 200 people. Next Concert is in December.
Shinnston did not get to do the Fireworks in July due to RAIN that would not go away. So the City of Shinnston is hosting a Pool Party on Saturday, August 29 from 6 PM to 8 PM – free swimming. and when it gets dark – FIREWORKS!!! The fireworks Shinnston Area Development Association purchased to celebrate Independence with on July 1 will fill the Shinnston sky on August 29. We will celebrate with a Special found only here on this blog – $20 off your second night (valid Aug 28 – Aug 30 only).
The Miss Frontier Days Pageant has been missing for a few years – but it is BACK!!
August 21, 2009: Entry forms are available at Shinnston City Hall or by e-mail: twila@wv.com . There is a $50 entry fee. The contestants must have been a resident of West Virginia for at least 6 months. The winner will go to Charleston in January to compete in the Miss Fairs & Festivals Pageant and receive a $500 scholarship. Contact Twila for the best info.
We will have a special rate for Miss Frontier Days contestants. Gillum House is as close to the event as anyone will get! One block from the stage. Call us now (888-592-0177) to reserve your room.
August 19, 2009: The Shinnston Community Band is going to blow their horns Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 6 PM at the big pavilion at City Park. Directions: Come into Shinnston from I-79 and turn right onto US Rt 19. Once you are on US Rt 19 (or if on Rt 19), turn right at the Veteran’s Memorial and then left at the top of the hill onto East Ave. Turn left onto North Street – there is a City Park sign (like a street name sign). This street leads directly in to the Park.
Musicians from middle school to old folks like your host come from all over the area to (my term) “blow their brains out!” and make beautiful music. Even having our big concert rained out 2 days in a row in July did not stop this group – so bring your lawn chairs and come spend an enjoyable evening of good music. And it is totally FREE!