June 13, 2017
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will commemorate West Virginia Day with festivities on Tuesday, June 20. The Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park in Logan and West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling will all offer free family activities and are open to the public at 9 a.m.
Festivities will begin at 9 a.m. at the Culture Center with the sale of a commemorative Blenko glass piece. From 10 a.m. to noon there will be youth activities in the Education Room. Thorny Lieberman, architectural photographer and author, will speak on his new book, The West Virginia State Capitol Building, available fall 2017, at 11 a.m. in the Great Hall. At noon, birthday cake will be cut and cupcakes will be available for all guests. Visitors also are encouraged to stop by and sign the state’s birthday card to commemorate the day.
Grave Creek Mound will host activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Special family-oriented crafts will be offered along with an all-day showing of “West Virginia: A Film History,” a documentary series produced by the West Virginia History Film Project and the West Virginia Humanities Council. Visitors can make gold and blue West Virginia necklaces using beads and patterns at the Discovery Table. Guests can also try the “West Virginia Scavenger Hunt in a Bottle,” where participants will add various small items, including a happy birthday message, to a plastic bottle filled with blue and yellow rice.
Museum in the Park will celebrate the Mountain State’s birthday by hosting the program “Museum in the Park Rocks.” Visitors can stop by throughout the day to paint rocks with any design the artist chooses along with a special message. The crafter will then be asked to hide the rock in a place of their choosing to be found by someone else. The distance the rock travels will then be tracked on the museum’s Facebook page.
West Virginia Independence Hall will host activities from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Life-size cardboard cutouts of both a Union and Confederate soldier with open face holes will be available for photograph opportunities. Visitors can listen to a recording of the reading of Proclamation 100 – Admitting West Virginia into the Union. The recording will play on a continuous loop. Guests also will be able to enjoy refreshments, including a birthday cake.
For more information about West Virginia Day activities, contact Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the division, at (304) 558-0220 or Caryn.S.Gresham@wv.gov.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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