Spring Arts Kick Off occurs at Fort New Salem in West Virginia

Spring Arts Kick Off Co-Chair Sarah Hurst said the start of the fort’s summer season means a lot to the community.

“We’re excited to get things started. Our summer events usually draw big crowds, so we like that. Today we have a lot of crafters and demonstrators here, like candle-making, pottery, blacksmithing and things like that,” she said.

Becky Nesbitt, who demonstrated fireplace cooking, enjoys showing people what life was like in the early days of the town, which was founded in 1792.

“It reminds people of where they came from. So many families in West Virginia have been here for 200 years or more. This reminds them of what life was like then. A lot of people think life was like the backwoods, but that’s not necessarily true. Clarksburg was a big city even back in 1789, and Salem was on the same main road. So we were a small village with about 80 people, but because of the turnpike, we had relatively easy transportation,” she said.

Elaine and Bill Kapphan, who demonstrated candle dipping, said the events hosted by the fort provide great educational opportunities for citizens.

“It shows people our heritage and what was done when people first immigrated to this country and how self-sufficient people had to be. It was much different than it is today,” Bill said.

“This is the first time we’ve done the Arts Kick Off, but we’ve done summer and Christmas events for 5 or 6 years now, and we always enjoy the big turn out,” Elaine said.

LuAnn Pumphrey and Bertie Addams, who sold woodwork and wall hangings at the event, enjoy how the fort is able to bring the town’s history to life and share that with people.

“This fort is a great experience for everybody to learn about history and see the skills on display,” Pumphrey said.

“It’s good for the fort because it brings people into the area to see how things were done when people first settled in the area,” Addams said.

Lynn Beatty demonstrated spinning on a spinning wheel, and also thinks that it’s essential to show people the skills on display at the fort.

“It’s keeping the old arts alive and getting younger people interested in it. If you wanted clothes to wear, you had to spin and sew them yourself,” she said.

Gabby Brooks has been blacksmithing for 40 years, and thinks events like this show what people are capable of.

“People have the ability to do things that they don’t think they’re capable of. Part of my job is to teach people how to learn these things so they can be self-reliant,” he said.

The fort’s events mean a lot to citizens like George Kurywzzak and Olena Zacharczuk, who support the fort’s mission.

“A lot of these skills are being forgotten. People need to see these things and take an interest in them so that when times get tough, they’ll know what to do,” Kurywzzak said.

“I love to support this place. It’s fascinating,” Zacharczuk said.

Although the Spring Arts event was only for one day, the fort has plenty of other activities happening throughout the season.

“This is our first event of the season, but there are more coming. We have a weekend of workshops on June 24 and 25 where people can come learn how to do things like blacksmithing. On July 24, we’ll have ‘Myths in the Mountains,’ where people tell local scary stories, and that always brings in a huge crowd,” Hurst said.