This was sent to me by a former Logan County W.Va. friend. I thought it needed to be shared. Good Article. > By IAN URBINA > Published: May 21, 2006 > WILLLIAMSTOWN, W. Va. * For three decades, Donna Briggs has worked at the > West Virginia Welcome Center here not far from the Ohio border, eagerly > greeting visitors entering her proud state but wistfully watching as much > of > the traffic flows the opposite way. > > "People leave because they have to, not because they want to," Ms. Briggs > said. "Looking over your shoulder and missing home is something West > Virginians know a lot about." > > Ranked behind South Dakota as having the second smallest population growth > of any state, according to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, West Virginia has > struggled to hold on to residents since the early 1950's, when layoffs in > the coal industry sent people elsewhere looking for work. > > For West Virginians, the tension between the economic push to leave and > the > emotional pull to return plays a central role in the state's cultural > identity. > > Just ask a West Virginian about these pressures and they will probably > tell > you a joke. Like the one that asks why the governor of West Virginia has > decided to resign. Answer: because Ford has called its workers back. Or > the > one about the capital of West Virginia being Akron because of all the West > Virginians who moved to Ohio in the 1950's to work in the tire plants. > > But the joke they are most likely to tell is the one in which St. Peter is > escorting a soul through heaven and is asked why there is a section that > is > walled-off. He replies: "Oh, that's where we put the West Virginians. > Otherwise they try to go back home on the weekend." > > The novelist Denise Giardina, a native West Virginian, said the obituary > page of The Charleston Gazette, the state's largest newspaper, was the > best > indicator of the ebb and flow. > > "I've lived a lot of places," Ms. Giardina said. "And I don't think I've > ever seen an obit page like the Gazette's with as many people who have > lived > outside their state their entire life but in death have come back home to > be > buried." > > For added perspective, listen to traditional West Virginia music. > > In July, Scott Hill, a music historian, will release the second volume of > "The Road Home," a compilation of songs about West Virginians longing to > return. > > "You see it in 'The West Virginia Hills,' which talks about leaving and > longing and is the official state song," Mr. Hill said. "You see it in > 'Take > Me Home, Country Roads,' which is our unofficial state song and is what we > sing after major football games." > > He added, "Coal and people have been our two biggest exports for a long > time, which has definitely shaped how we think of ourselves." > > Officials have tried to convince natives to stay and to attract newcomers > and investment. In 2001, the state set aside some $30 million to guarantee > full in-state tuition to students who met grade-point standards and other > testing requirements. > > Last year, Gov. Joe Manchin III began changing a slogan on some state > highway signs from "Wild and Wonderful" to "Open for Business." > > The state has attracted some retirees, but it has had less success in > holding on to its young people. > > West Virginia has the oldest median population of any state, and from 1990 > to 2000 it had a net loss of about 18,000 people in the 18 to 22 age > group. > > In every year since 1997, resident deaths have outnumbered births, > although > the population has stabilized around 1.8 million, down from a peak of 2 > million in 1950. > > Students in the state often joke that in West Virginia the three R's stand > for reading, 'riting and Route 77. The road is nicknamed Hillbilly Highway > because over the years it has delivered so many people to surrounding > states. > > "They say that brown-haired people cross the border going one way and > white-haired people cross it the other," said Bob Henry Baber, the mayor > of > Richwood. "But the truth is that most West Virginians of all ages come > back > continually because they don't feel right anywhere else." > > Richwood, a tiny town about 60 miles east of Charleston in south-central > West Virginia, is famous for its Ramp Feed, a traditional feast > celebrating > the arrival of spring and featuring dishes made with pungent leeks called > ramps that grow wild in the state. > > Each year, the festival draws nearly 1,000 visitors, mostly native West > Virginians returning from out of state, Mr. Baber said. > > After living in Pittsburgh for more than 35 years, Sylvia Ghaznavi, who > sells used books, returned to her hometown Buckhannon two years ago, > taking > her bookstore with her. > > With more than 200,000 books, her store * called Books Books Books * > almost > seems out of place in Buckhannon, a town of about 5,800. Her sales are a > quarter of what they were before the move, but Ms. Ghaznavi stands by her > decision. > > "I know this will sound odd to outsiders, but the air and the hills here > make me feel like I'm where I belong," she said, unfazed as a lone > customer > drifted toward the exit without buying anything. "I finally reached the > point where I was willing to pay whatever price that cost." > > A deeply rooted loyalty to West Virginia remains with those who move > outside > the state's boundaries. > > A couple of years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch came out with a shirt depicting > West Virginia as a haven for incest. The Charleston Gazette published an > op-ed article denouncing the company and defending the state. It was > written > by a native West Virginian living in Massachusetts. > > "It's like the rest of the country fell asleep during geography class," > said > Lionel Jordan, also known as 6'6 240, a popular rapper from Morgantown who > now lives in Atlanta. West Virginian pride is one of his themes. > > "I say I'm from West Virginia, and they all tell me they have a cousin in > Richmond," Mr. Jordan said. "No disrespect to Richmond, but I'm trying to > put my state back on the map." > > Cynthia Olson, who has lived in Vienna, Va., for 11 years, said she and > her > husband, Steve, were going to put their house up for sale. With jobs that > allow them to work from home, she and her husband plan to move to > Hillsboro, > W. Va., where they own a house on the Greenbrier River. > > Mrs. Olson is a native of Richwood. Of her home in Virginia, she said, > "You > take hiking trips here, and within an hour you are hitting cities and > pavement. In West Virginia you enter the wilderness and it goes on and on > for hundreds of miles." > > As for the jokes and negative images, Irene McKinney, West Virginia's poet > laureate, said the stereotypes led natives both to leave and to return. > > Many writers, she said, feel that to be taken seriously by publishers they > need to live outside the state. "But at the same time," she said, "these > stereotypes lead many West Virginians to be defensive about their state, > which contributes to an us-against-the-world sense of identity." > > "We're like hound dogs," she said. "We want to roam, but we feel guilty > and > lost if we stray." > > > Stephen L. Douglas > President > WVU Alumni Association > > Get connected to your Mountaineer > family! Join the WVU Alumni Association > today at http://alumni.wvu.edu. > >