Help needed for Sumner cleanup
Volunteers and cleaning supplies are needed for the March 4 cleanup day at Sumner School Museum and Learning Center, 1016 Avery St. in Parkersburg.
The cleanup day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — billed as a “day of service for Sumner” — had been scheduled for September 2016 but was postponed until March.
The building has been closed for more than three years after it was stripped of $18,000 worth of copper, said Toni Oliver, president of the Sumnerite Association Inc.
Sumner Museum needs a thorough cleaning inside, the paint is peeling and moldy books in the library must be thrown away, Oliver said. A large trash receptacle will be placed in front of the museum along Avery Street next Saturday.
Mops, brooms and cleaning supplies for the work day can be dropped off at city fire stations, Oliver said.
Oliver is expecting students from West Virginia University at Parkersburg and Marietta College to participate in the cleanup. Others signed up last June at the Mid-Ohio Valley Multi-Cultural Festival at City Park to help at the cleanup, and Oliver hopes these people will continue to offer their assistance.
Oliver plans to resume the free tutoring program, for students in grades 1-12, at Sumner Museum once the building is cleaned and the roof is repaired.
Established in 1862 as the first free school for blacks south of the Mason-Dixon Line, Sumner School closed in 1954. The Sumnerite Association converted the former school into the Sumner School Museum and Learning Center.
Financial support is needed to complete renovations to the museum, which needs a new kitchen, windows and roof and repairs, Oliver said.
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Parkersburg native Brooke (Litton) Glover is looking forward to bringing a launch party for Swilled Dog Hard Cider to her hometown on March 4.
Swilled Dog Hard Cider, based in Franklin, W.Va., began producing hard cider in January and has its product in several West Virginia cities, including Parkersburg, Wheeling, Morgantown and Fairmont.
From 6-9 p.m. March 4, Swilled Dog will introduce itself to local residents at Parkersburg Brewing Co., 707 Market St. The Glover family, who owns Swilled Dog, will be providing five of its hard ciders to the public on tap and in bottles, along with prizes, raffles and other events.
Admission is free, with all proceeds from the sales that night of West Virginia Scrumpy, one of the five hard ciders at the party, given to the Humane Society of Parkersburg.
Charitable giving is important to the Glover family and its company, said Brooke, the company’s director of sales and marketing. Her husband, Brad Glover, is one of the company’s owners.
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The contestants and teams have been announced for the sixth annual edition of “A Night of Dancing With the Stars,” a major fundraiser for the Actors Guild of Parkersburg.
The five teams of J.T. Spivy and Wendy Shriver, Matt Hackney and Lisa McCray, Matt Dodrill and Christie Willis, Tiffanee Rice and Jeff DeWitt and Kasey Snyder and Stacey Steed will compete in the dance event on March 11 at the Parkersburg Art Center. Each team consists of a celebrity and pro dancer.
Voting has started on the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s website. The winning team is determined by its fundraising efforts and dance scores.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the dancing at 7 p.m. Admission of $40 includes food, photo book, additional musical and dance entertainment, and open dancing after the competition.
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If you want to do some island daydreaming and see beautiful photographs of the Caribbean island of Dominica, check out Parkersburg native David Kurtz’s Kuribbean.blogspot.com.
Kurtz, a 1976 graduate of Parkersburg High School, will be finishing his two-year commitment of teaching at a school in Dominica through the Peace Corps in August. Kurtz is teaching literacy (improving reading and writing skills) and other subjects that might be needed, he said by email.
He purchased an Estes model rocket while in Parkersburg in October and had the children of Dominica working on the rocket. Kurtz planned the first launch for Feb. 24.
Kurtz was pleased that his application for a major grant program was selected to build a playing court at the Caribbean school July 21-29. The American charity Courts for Kids will provide the first $5,000 and accepts donations to cover the remaining $2,000-$3,000.
“It would be fantastic if folks in my hometown would make tax-deductible contributions (or perhaps even volunteer to join us) to assist my village,” Kurtz said. Details are in the blog story at https://tinyurl.com/j2qj6vg.
Contact Paul LaPann at plapann@newsandsentinel.com