LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
More sauerkraut , take 2
Last year about this time , once again putting the finishing touches on this magazine and thinking out loud that I sure should have bought more than a pint jar of sauerkraut from the fine people at the Methodist Church stand during Hinton ’ s Railroad Days , well , I have returned to tell you that not even two jars made it through the winter .
The trouble with all of that is , of course , this is mid-June and the Railroad Days do not roll back into town until October – Oct . 11 , to be exact . And that ’ s a mighty long time to have to settle for bland , inferior , store-bought sauerkraut though the bratwurst off the grill forces my hand .
The good news is that there are plenty of distractions in these hills and hollers to keep a person ’ s mind gainfully employed and his belly full , leaving little room for too many sauerkraut thoughts . What I have discovered in pasting this little magazine together is that there is a bunch about the public parks in southern West Virginia that I did not know .
For instance , the National Park Service is responsible for preserving some old farmsteads inside the boundaries of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve . And each has an interesting history .
Early settlers in these parts were a tough breed . They lived
off the land using subsistence farming – and the land , not easy to forget , was mountainous – not the relatively flat farmlands of the midwest where it was just a tad easier to plant a crop and produce a bountiful harvest .
No , these folks , ancestors to many in these parts , grew crops to sustain only themselves on a small patch of farmable land . To supplement that reward , farmers had to take up hunting wild animals . To no one ’ s surprise , these early mountain farmers never thrived . The park service says they lived through droughts , harsh winters , and periods of starvation . Yes , some died , victims to a tough , stingy , unforgiving land .
And the farms they worked ? Some , like the Trump-Lilly farm in the park , give us enough evidence to understand what they were up against and the choices they made .
Shortly after the turn of the 20th century , Aden Lilly – who came to own the farm by 1912 – was using everything he grew for the family ’ s
subsistence , for food and for trade . The family harvested timber to create new crop fields , to build needed farm buildings and to heat their homes .
The Lilly family planted fruit trees in a pasture and vegetables in a garden . The family kept livestock – hogs , chickens and sheep along with three or four milk cows , the park service says .
Having grown up on one of those midwestern farms where there was more grain to take to market than what the Lillys likely ever had , more heads of cattle to ship by train to the stockyards of Chicago , farmers still practiced subsistence farming . My mom , I swear , had the largest garden I have ever seen and she put up more tomato sauce and canned vegetables and fruit than what I thought our family would ever eat .
But we did along with the butchered beef and the northern pike and walleye dad brought back from his annual fishing trip to Canada . Finished it all just in time for the following year ’ s cycle to begin again , filling empty spaces on those wooden shelves in the cellar and the meat freezer in the old kitchen .
And , yes , there was always room for more than just a couple pint jars of sauerkraut . And that made me happy .
J . Damon Cain is editor of West Virginia South , The Register-Herald in Beckley , W . Va . and Destinations . He is a fan of the San Francisco Giants , the Iowa Hawkeyes , cold beer , good food , summer grilling , black Labs and his family . Over the course of a 43-year career , he has won myriad journalism awards for writing , editing , graphics , newspage design and photo editing . Or , as his kids might say , “ Blah , blah , blah .”
4 � DESTINATIONS � JUNE ’ 24