Stonewall Country
Reservations for this trip are due by Tuesday, May 7, 2019.
Come join us for an adventure to Stonewall Country on May 9, 2019. We will be touring the following:
Our first stop will be the Appalachian Glass Products, where they are keeping the tradition of hand-made glass and other dying arts alive in West Virginia. Appalachian Glass offers novelty items to elegant stemware and vases, many items are hand-crafted and mouth-blown in Weston, West Virginia. Appalachian Glass's glassware can be seen in the following museums: West Virginia State Museum (Charleston WV), West Virginia Museum of American Glass (Weston WV) and the Paul R. Stewart Museum (Waynesburg PA). As one of the last glass manufacturers left in WV, we will share the experience of a glass making demonstration in keeping this tradition alive.
Our second stop will be the The Museum of American Glass, Ltd. This is a museum with a mission to share the diverse and rich heritage of glass as a product and historical object as well as telling of the lives of glass workers, their families and communities, and of the tools and machines they used in glass houses.
Lunch will be on your own.
The next stop will be the Mountaineer Military Museum. Childhood friends were drafted into their country’s service and only one made it home. A graveside promise was made that “I’ll never let anyone forget you guys.” Ron McVaney vowed to keep his promise. He had collected hundreds of pieces of memorabilia over the last thirty-five years. Upon retiring, he told his wife Barbara that the time had come to share their memorabilia with the public. With the help of the Lewis County Board of Education, Lewis County Commission, and the public, the Mountaineer Military Museum became a reality. We will enjoy a guided tour by a retired veteran.
Last but not least, we will visit the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum Museum. This structure was constructed between 1858 and 1881 and is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin. It was designed by the renowned architect Richard Andrews following the Kirkbride plan, which called for long rambling wings arranged in a staggered formation, assuring that each of the connecting structures received an abundance of therapeutic sunlight and fresh air. The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950's with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994 inflicting a devastating effect on the local economy, from which it has yet to recover.
We will depart from Mountaineer Mall at 8:00 a.m. and arrive back in Morgantown at approximately 6-6:30 p.m.
The cost of this trip is $25.00 per person for bus transportation. Lunch will be on your own. The Lewis County Visitor’s Center has suggested two nearby restaurants: Deb's Diner and Thyme Bistro.Refund Policy: Reservations for this trip are due by Tuesday, May 7, 2019. On that day we will make our commitment to the bus company. As a result, we will not be able to make any refunds after that date.
This is a two-step process. You need to: (1) reserve your seat(s) and (2) make your payment.
Reserve your seat:
To reserve your seat(s), click on Stonewall Country.
Make your $25 per seat payment to:
WVU Foundation
On the memo line: Stonewall Country – 2W924
Send your check to:
WVU Retirees Association
PO Box 6640
Morgantown WV 26506