WV Trip 2026, Spencer

 Recently, Ward and I took a trip to West Virginia to visit family and friends. I am sharing parts of that trip here. 

When I last left you, we had just arrived in Spencer, my hometown. Spencer is a town of around 2,000 people and typifies WV, which is made up of mostly small towns and rural areas. In fact, the two largest cities, Charleston (the state capital) and Huntington, are small by many standards, with populations under 50,000.

Aerial view of Spencer when I lived there. There have been some major changes in businesses, but basically, the town is the same.

The goal of this outing was to visit a couple of friends. But first, we did a little touring around town. Spencer had two new things that I had read about and wanted to see. 

First was a new little league field, and next was a giant flag erected for the 250th anniversary of the US. Both of these were projects of the Freshwater Foundation. Freshwater Foundation was founded by a local man who started with manual labor in oil and gas fields in the area and gradually formed the large company he has today. Besides providing scholarships for trade schools, he is building things in the community that they wouldn't have been able to provide otherwise.

Sign at new little league field: "Please Remember...These are kids. This is a game. Coaches are volunteers. Umpires are human. Your child does not play for MLB."

The field is new and state-of-the-art. The previous field often flooded, and Mr. Freshwater wanted a place where the kids didn't have to play in the mud. (BTW, the field was fenced, blocking the view, and we had to peer between the cracks to see. Pictures were not easy.)

Next up was the largest flag in WV in honor of the US's 250th anniversary.  It was erected on Flag Day, June 14, 2026, and hopes to bring some tourism to the area. Of course, we saw it from far away, but decided to hike to the hill it was located on.

And that's where things went a bit off the rails. It was hot and buggy, but we hiked up the hill anyway. Then at the top, there was some confusion, and we ended up back at the car, irritated without having seen everything we had set out to see. 

The flag sits on top of State Hospital Hill, where Spencer State Hospital was. The hospital opened in 1893 and operated for almost 100 years. Then, it sat empty for 15 years until Walmart tore it down and opened a store. These were the ruins of the hospital farm superintendent's house we saw.

And that was when Ward and I lost track of each other; I headed for the hill with the Civil War cemetery because from afar I saw a flag there.

And Ward, who has a better sense of direction, headed for the big flag.
By the time we found each other, we decided to move on. There are all kinds of interesting things around the flag to see, but I will have to see them the next time. Fun fact. The pole is 140' tall.

However, we did accomplish the main goal of the trip and spent time visiting with old friends. 

We visited with Donna and her husband. Her yard was filled with beautiful flowers, and I liked her sign, "Donna's Garden".

Next was Lois and her husband. Lois and I were cheerleaders together in high school and write old-fashioned snail mail letters to each other.

We took a different route home and went through Ripley,  Granny Sue's territory.

We made it back to Williamstown in time to have a s'mores party with more of my cousins. A fun end to a busy day.

Next time, I'll finish with a few odds and ends.

Until then...