So here’s another excellent post I missed, thanks to my email gaffe. Sorry, Allclick — and thanks for the submission. I really like how you went with better and worse.

Post by: Allclick
Town: Hurricane
Website: http://www.allclick.blogspot.com

About one year behind schedule, Putnam County finally entered the 21st century this April by opening its first Wal-mart. Yes, the mega-super-ultra-all-selling-all-knowing-hyper mart institution is now available for everyone who had to drive those 20 minutes to Nitro. Ever since construction began I thought to myself, Will this be better for the community or worse? Here were some of my thoughts/suspicions.

Better:

Well, a big honking superstore needs people to work there, right? So more jobs in the area. Wal-mart say they are giving a lot of money away to local charities and organizations. I don’t disbelieve them, I just can’t verify that. Other stores are moving in near Wal-mart. I look forward to trying the new Rocky Top Mountain Pizza.

I’ll have to spend less on gas to get to Wal-mart. The prices are usually cheaper than Kroger. Kroger is now a lot nicer to shop at, as everyone is at Wal-mart.

So, a lot of benefits on a personal level and a community level. But didn’t I just see a documentary about how Wal-mart moves into a community and then all the smaller stores just close and die? Hmm.

Worse:

Potentially some of the smaller stores in Hurricane could close. There are a couple of family-owned superstores that probably aren’t too happy about the competition. The roads have become a little more congested now at the interstate exit there.

Yes, a new Dollar Tree moved in alongside Wal-mart … but to make up for this, they closed the other one over in Teays Valley. Which was nicer.

It’s a Wal-mart. Which means to most shoppers that they should ignore any etiquette that they have learned throughout life and just treat the place like their own playground. The parking up there still kinda sucks. I have no idea how that happened.

It’s a tough call right now. I can only see the roads getting worse and the other stores struggling more as time goes on. For now I’m pleased to have a convenient, cheap shopping location. Whether I’ll be quite as content as I line up in traffic everyday at the interstate I can’t tell you.

Post by: Bryan Stealey
Town: Morgantown
Website: Reversing the Numbness

They keep changing our landscape, to put more change in their pockets. Something’s got to change. I think we’ll have to change first.

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My friend Becky Kimmons sings (beautifully) in an a capella group now called BareBones, but formerly known as Missing Person Soup Kitchen Gospel Quartet. (There are only three members. Get it?) She gave me permission to use this amazing recording of “The West Virginia Hills,” off their Stirring It Up album. The photos are used with permission by Vivian Stockman of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, a group out of Huntington intent on stopping mountain-top removal. Thanks very much to both Becky and Vivian for allowing me to use these materials for this little slideshow. I’m no filmmaker, but I don’t think the stark contrast between this beautiful song and these haunting images needs much work on my part anyway.

Post by: Clint Stealey
Town: Columbus (but originally Clarksburg and then Morgantown)

Not too long ago, I remember being bummed about how WVU would be negatively affected by the exodus of three universities from the Big East conference. Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami got up and left in the middle of the night, only to leave their siblings hanging out to dry. Of course it affected all of the sports teams, but it more noticeably affected the Mountaineers on the gridiron. I don’t think I could have pointed to one person who thought it was a good thing for WVU. How could it be a positive when it means that we lose the ability to play our second biggest rival in football in VT? Is the conference now simply going to collapse? Will WVU be in a conference that’s going to have a shot at playing for a national title? After all, playing for the ultimate prize is what it’s all about.

Fast-forward a few years and I laugh about that situation. Not only has WVU been the flagship university for the conference, but it has gained national exposure to an unprecedented level. We have won two BCS games in the last three years, beating “little known” teams from Georgia and Oklahoma. A record number of WVU football games have been shown on national TV in these past three to four years, thanks to the team’s success and the conference’s clever television contract with ESPN. Most interesting is that the ACC is the conference that has been negatively affected since the expansion. VT, Miami and BC have not been on the same level as WVU over the past three- to four-year period on the football field. The Big East has simply been better than the ACC in football since the invasion.

Not too long ago, I remember being bummed about Rich Rodriguez leaving his alma mater for a Michigan program that I feel has had its best day. I felt a certain level of betrayal and amazement that he would leave Morgantown. I do think that the WVU-Pitt game affected him so greatly that it caused him to want to withdrawal from the situation, and the Michigan opportunity was the perfect out. How could he leave his alma mater like that? How can he tell a high-school recruit he doesn’t even know “pryor” to telling Pat White and Co.? Are we going to return to a level of mediocrity that persisted during the late ’90s/early 2000s?

Fast-forward a few months and I laugh about that situation. It should be clear to every WVU alum or fan across the country that it is certainly best that this happened. Am I disappointed in missing a trip to New Orleans to watch a title game? Sure. However, it is becoming more and more clear that WVU was coached by an individual who lacks a measurable amount of moral fiber. This is exactly the type of person I would not choose to lead the Mountaineers, even if it means missing a national-title game.

Uncertainty and apprehension always seem to accompany change. However, growth and prosperity can often be at the side of change as well. When it comes to WVU football, “a change can do you good.”

Moderator’s note: Clint Stealey is my little brother, whose ass I used to be able to kick. The operative word being ‘used.’

Post By: Rebecca Burch
Town: Spencer
Website: Carpe You Some Diem

When I was a kid, there were all kinds of little local businesses. They’re almost all gone, now, but they make up such a huge part of my childhood. I’ll never forget the smell of Belle Hardware Store, and the feel of sticking my hands in the huge barrels of bean and corn seeds in the springtime. (I always got told to “get those hands outta there!” but I couldn’t resist.)

A lot of small businesses in the area have shut down for good. Our economy is moving from small, local businesses to huge, global businesses. Large megastores move in and shut businesses down, or the businesses close their doors because it’s too difficult to keep up with all the regulations and paperwork. It’s just so hard to have a small business these days, so most people don’t even try.

Last week, I met this guy:

who is the owner and CEO of Spring Creek Tofu. He informed me that it is cheaper and easier for the nation’s largest tofu supplier to purchase soybeans from Ohio, ship them to Japan, make the tofu and then sell it in the United States than it is to produce tofu from those same soybeans here in West Virginia. He says he has difficulty meeting all the regulations because there are so many bureaus and reporting agencies to deal with, and many of them have confusing or even contradictory policies to adhere to. This is one of the reasons the previous owners quit the business, he said, and the reason that he can’t produce the tofu as quickly as he needs to to meet demand — it takes so much time to do the paperwork that it takes workers away from making the product, but he can’t afford to hire someone new to do the paperwork.

Of course, the changing economy has a positive side for West Virginia. Because of internet connectivity, more businesses are locating outside of large cities, where land prices and taxes are lower and employees have nice, safe communities to raise families in. There is a huge push toward bringing more of these companies into the state. Create West Virginia is a consortium that is working to help communities in West Virginia to find new ways to improve their economic outlooks, and to produce new industries besides the ones we’ve depended on for so long. Believe it or not, West Virginia is ripe for major, positive growth — if we want it enough to accept the change. We have the technological infrastructure, safe communities, historical importance, recreation and cultural events to make these new industries want to locate here. We have hardworking, loyal, resourceful people who would make an excellent workforce for these industries. We are close enough to big cities for convenient access, but far enough away to discourage a lot of crime spillover. West Virginia truly has it all!

But reluctance to change is part of the charm of West Virginia. Some of our towns seem forever frozen in time — still stuck in days when life moved at a slower pace, and everyone knew their neighbors. In many West Virginia towns, you can still watch a movie in a one-screen moviehouse and get a Coke from a soda fountain machine. People bring casseroles when a family member passes away or a baby is born, and the grocery store employees at the few remaining Mom and Pop shops will still bag your purchases and carry them to your car. And that’s OK, too. The trick is finding a way for us to weather all the change without losing what makes us West Virginia. I have faith that we can — we always have.

Moderator’s note: Rebecca has some amazing photography for sale at her Etsy page. If you’re looking to vastly improve the appearance of the walls of your boring ol’ home, support a WV artist and buy from her!

This week on Picture West Virginia, the prompt is “Change, for Better or Worse.” Hopefully everybody who contributed last week is game for another go, and maybe we’ll even pick up another player or two. Anybody who feels a connection to the Mountain State is welcome to either submit a post for this blog, or to post on your own blog, in which case I’ll mention it here.

Any questions? Feel free to contact me at bryan@picturewestvirginia.com.