| People often pride themselves in having "minds of their | | | | passed-up landing, heading on to the next available |
| own"; but what about places? A good character study | | | | landing field. Old-timers tell |
| can enthrall, mesmerize -- a strong portrayal of | | | | tales of the first airplane owners in the area. -- Often |
| personality can stun, | | | | farmers or landowners with a curiosity about piloting a |
| captivate, intrigue. But who says the main character | | | | plane, but completely untrained, they would purchase a |
| must be a person? Why not let a bustling city, | | | | plane, ask for directions and general flying instructions; |
| yarn-spinning town or lazy locale take center stage -- | | | | then get in the plane and fly home -- or at least what |
| play the protagonist, and even tell a success | | | | they perceived to be home. Needless to say, some of |
| story?The Greenbrier Valley in southeastern West | | | | them finally got there by another means of |
| Virginia, home to old-time mountaineers, middle-class | | | | transportation, and much later than expected. -- But |
| business folks, lawyers, academicians, and people of | | | | well-wishing neighbors would leave lanterns burning |
| rather high net worth in search of some peace and | | | | outside, well into the night, hoping to bring each fledgling |
| quiet in the pure mountain air -- is a place of simple, | | | | pilot down to earth safely. Now, the modern Greenbrier |
| rare beauty with much to tell. For this reason, it is also | | | | Valley Airport near Lewisburg has capacity for large |
| a haven for creative artists. Writers, musicians, | | | | commercial jets, as well as small, two-engine models. |
| painters, sculptors, photographers, and makers of | | | | And no one pilots without a legitimate license! (But the |
| crafts from the U.S. as well as abroad come to | | | | fog and ice can still impede one's progress over the |
| experience the poignancy, joy, laugher and sorrow | | | | first mountain ridge on snowy winter days. And |
| reflected in the local folklore, mountain music, and | | | | sometimes you decide this side of the mountain looks |
| breathtaking colors of hazy sunrise and brilliant sunset | | | | good enough, change your plans, and stay |
| mixed with the vibrant hues of the countryside | | | | home.)White Sulphur Springs hosts the Greenbrier |
| terrain.Just a few years ago, a visit to the county | | | | Hotel with its healing natural springs water, golf and |
| schools was a truly unique experience. The student | | | | tennis and horseback riding facilities, cool rolling grounds |
| population was made up of town kids, kids from farms | | | | and tall, overhanging maples, oaks and evergreens that |
| throughout the county, and the children of families who | | | | bow and lean close in the breeze -- a tease to the |
| had lived sparse, but enduring existences in sometimes | | | | curious newcomer, full of questions and wishing the |
| isolated mountain regions for many years. Mountaineer | | | | trees could talk. The Greenbrier now sports a growing |
| customs were different. Mountain language was fun -- | | | | community of elegant, luxurious new homes on the |
| but it took some getting used to, and much was never | | | | well-landscaped site of its former golf course; while |
| explained, or left | | | | just a |
| unsaid. But, those shy, silent children had much to tell. | | | | hillside or two away, you can find a cozy, |
| One current local resident, now a teacher in her 50's, | | | | well-seasoned log cabin, a bit worn, but still in use. And |
| remembers being somewhat in awe of one quiet, | | | | on the front porch is an elderly, white-haired man |
| wide-eyed boy who told of his family's home being | | | | playing banjo with his small great-granddaughter beside |
| part wooden house with a red-dirt floor, and part cave; | | | | him, strumming the strings of a cherry wood dulcimer. |
| but his older brother had recently installed a color TV | | | | While from the distant interstate, you hear faint, |
| set. -- The teacher, then a schoolgirl, was jealous | | | | persistent rhythms of rock music and modern country |
| at the time, since her family still had a black-and-white | | | | songs |
| TV at home.... Now the schools are large and | | | | drifting out from the open windows of passing cars. |
| consolidated, with a quality of sophistication both built-in | | | | And even the Greenbrier Ghost from centuries past |
| and acquired.In years past, the railroads were still very | | | | comes forward in time to make current appearances |
| important to the area. With regular and frequent stops | | | | for delighted (and spooked) |
| at the Victorian style wooden stations in White Sulphur | | | | audiences at the Greenbrier Valley Theater |
| Springs and Ronceverte, the next valley town to | | | | productions!Yes, the Greenbrier Valley has a creative |
| Lewisburg, they carried lumber, coal, cattle, produce | | | | mind of its own -- embracing the past, present and |
| and passengers en route to neighboring or distant | | | | future in a single gesture, smile, word or glance, as it |
| locations. Residents say it was always comforting to | | | | reaches out warmly to greet you. For, after all, an |
| hear the train whistle, foggy on the misted night air -- | | | | enchanted visiting creative artist could become a |
| and much fun to get to take a trip in the jostling, | | | | productive artist in residence -- and the wind |
| clacking passenger cars. -- Last year, some visitors | | | | whispering softly through the trees will try to persuade |
| took Amtrak from White Sulphur to New York, and | | | | you so.Ellen Gilmer, |
| while waiting at the station for the train to arrive, a | | | | copyright Ellen Gilmer is a writer-composer and artist |
| group of well-dressed guests at the | | | | who lives in New York City. Crystal Clear Artforms, |
| Greenbrier Hotel were happily out on the tracks | | | | her creative arts business, |
| placing nickels and quarters on the open rails, so the | | | | is dedicated to the development and promotion of |
| incoming train could flatten the coins into pendants. | | | | Thematic Arts (creative expression in multiple art |
| (The onlookers' main concern was that the train would | | | | forms). Ellen's work includes copywriting and article |
| flatten the guests, instead!) But, they all scurried back | | | | writing, and she is a member of the Agora International |
| to the platform and safety, just in time.Braver souls | | | | Press Corps / AWAI Travel Writers Group. |
| used to fly in small commercial planes, or even | | | | She has published two books: La Belle Famille (a |
| two-or-four-seaters, from the small airport near White | | | | novel); and Free Style Run of the Heart (a book of |
| Sulphur and the Greenbrier Hotel. The only problem | | | | dramatic monologues with songs). Both books were |
| there was that on foggy, | | | | published by The Pentland Press Ltd./ Carnegie |
| snowy or ice-coated days, you might not make it | | | | Publishing, England. |
| over the first mountain ridge; and incoming planes often | | | | |