January 23, 2012
By Staff reports
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Buy local. Eat local. Shop local — really local.
That was the message Monday as Charleston’s two Main Street organizations kicked off a campaign aimed at supporting locally owned businesses and keeping dollars in the local economy.
According to a news release from East End Main Street and West Side Main Street, dollars spent in local businesses go twice as far as those spent in chain stores. “A locally owned business returns approximately 80 percent of each dollar spent back to the community, while a chain store returns only 40 percent back in the form of taxes and employee wages.”
Delegate Meshea Poore, D-Kanawha, an East End Main Street board member, gave state legislators brochures listing businesses in the East End and West Side they might need while in town — like dry cleaners, restaurants, etc.
“The district has many unique and wonderful businesses that may not be known to some of my legislative colleagues and this is a great way to inform them of the places they can dine, shop and be entertained,” Poore said in a prepared statement.
Share on Facebook
Fate of West Side landmark in doubt
By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Call it the ultimate fixer-upper: 47,000 square feet, more or less, on four floors — not counting the morgue in the basement.
That’s the former Staats Hospital, the plum of the Elk City Historic District.
Larry Kopelman and his Genesis Capital partner, Charles F. Schoen, probably would give you a good deal on the building. They hold a deed of trust on the property, which is tied up in bankruptcy court after the previous owner, Dr. Adla Adi of St. Francis West Properties, defaulted on his loan from Genesis, Kopelman said.
There’s a catch, though — probably several of them.
“It’s an old building that needs complete remodeling,” Kopelman said. “You’ve got old-building issues. Heating and cooling needs to be totally replaced.”
Not to mention the leaky roof, the asbestos and lead paint, the broken elevators, shattered plaster, pigeon poop and the trash — mountains of trash.
Kevin Mullins gave some visitors a first-hand look on a recent guided tour. A computer network engineer by day and vocalist for the Esquires band by night, Mullins has been helping fellow band member Kopelman clean up the property and show it to potential developers.
Although the brick exterior of the Staats building has held up over the years, the interior is a different story. The place hasn’t changed much since Adi closed his office doors and moved to Florida, more than a year ago.
“He only used the first floor,” Mullins said. “The second, third and fourth floors haven’t been used since the 1970s.
“The basement isn’t really usable. That’s where the old autopsy room is.” The operating table is still there, he said.
Built in 1922 by the Staats brothers, the structure once was the commercial heart of the Elk City neighborhood on West Washington Street, just across the Elk River. It housed the 625-seat Grand Theater, the first movie venue on the West Side, plus an A&P grocery store and Kelley’s Department Store.
Historians say it was designed by John Norman, one of West Virginia’s first black licensed architects.
Staats Hospital occupied the second and third floors as late as 1982, according to one newspaper account, while the fourth floor was home to the Glendale Lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
Saint Francis Hospital bought the property, then sold it to Adi, who operated the Saint Francis West HealthCare clinic.
By all appearances, Adi focused his energy on operating the first-floor clinic, and used the upper floors as a repository for unwanted or unneeded materials. In 2003, he announced plans to tear the building down and build a new clinic in the rear. He never followed through.
The first floor is in relatively good condition, but the rest of building has deteriorated badly over the years. Bits of broken plaster, flakes of paint, old furniture, office supplies and random scraps of paper cover the floor in the maze of rooms on the second and third floors.
On the fourth floor, Mullins warned to steer clear of one room dotted with pigeon droppings, and to avoid the hole where rain from the leaking roof has rotted through the wooden floor.
He entered what once was the building’s showpiece, the lodge hall — except most of the vaulted ceiling has fallen, exposing the joists above. “You can still see the lodge insignia here, and here,” he said, pointing at the two end walls. “I think this was the original Knights of Pythias lodge hall.”
Lately, though, it’s been a garbage dump. “This was waist deep in trash,” he said.
Mullins has spent months cleaning up, trying to make the place more attractive for developers.
Kopelman hopes to get back at least some of the money he loaned Adi. Ownership is still tied up in bankruptcy court, he said.
“Genesis Capital has not decided what to do,” Kopelman said, but he and his partner don’t want to own the building. “We’ve got some effort in place in trying to find someone.”
That’s where Pat McGill comes in. As director of the West Side Main Street program, she’s been trying to save the building since 2010, when she heard Adi was planning to retire.
With Kopelman’s blessing, she’s been hunting for grant money and, in December, learned she’d won a $5,000 brownfields grant.
The Staats building was one of eight projects, and the first ever from Kanawha County, to win a grant through the FOCUS WV Program at the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center in Morgantown. A second center, at Marshall University, serves Southern West Virginia.
Under federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines, the building qualifies as a brownfield because of its suspected asbestos and lead paint problems.
“We hope to do a Phase I assessment, a feasibility study to find out what could the property potentially be used for,” McGill said. “We’ve not had a lot of success finding a developer because of the unknowns for the environmental issues.
“The second step would be to apply for a $20,000 [State Historic Preservation Office] grant. You can use the money to hire consultants to look at potential uses or hire architects or engineers.”
The EPA definition of a brownfield is kind of broad, said Luke Elsor, project manager at the Morgantown center: “Any real property that is contaminated or perceived to be contaminated.”
That includes land, like old gas stations and apple orchards where pesticides were used. “They specifically included post surface-mining properties, which is important for West Virginia.” It includes structures, all sorts of factories and chemical plants, and any building where lead paint, asbestos floor tiles and/or asbestos insulation might have been used.
“That perception opens up a lot,” Elsor said. “A site is not going to be redeveloped because there’s a feeling it’s contaminated.” Developers shy away because of the uncertainty, he said.
“For all we know, the Staats Hospital is perfectly safe and clean, or it may be easily addressed.”
The project also would qualify for a $12,000 Stage II site design and project implementation grant, he said.
“The goal is market research. That can take the form of architectural studies, market analysis or site planning — trying to find the different pieces to the puzzle,” Elsor said. “Typically, a brownfield redevelopment project can take up to 14 investment partners.
“Nobody wants to see a space sitting empty. It’s a great opportunity to get a lot of people involved.”
Kopelman is ready to step in. “I hope that grant will create a concept for what to do with the building,” he said. “We would, if a group came forward, would finance. That’s what we do.
“We’re looking for anyone, either West Side Main Street as a conduit or a catalyst, or an independent third party. We’re willing to cooperate.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
Share on Facebook
OktoberWest Gears Up For Another Year in Charleston
Posted Thursday, October 13, 2011 ; 06:22 PM
Updated Thursday, October 13, 2011; 07:46 PM
West side businesses coordinate to make the festival a success.
CHARLESTON — The fourth annual OktoberWest Festival is just days away. There will be food, fun and music to celebrate the west side and its heritage. A lot of work goes into putting this event together according to organizers.
“A lot of businesses pull together to make it happen,” said Kathy Callahan, owner of Fountain Hobby shop. “A lot of interested west side people that live on the west side. We have about 80 volunteers, 80 to 90 volunteers that work on this. So it takes a lot to put on an event.”
While there won’t be a lot of immediate sales, organizers and volunteers said Oktoberwest will generate business down the line. “Most of your businesses are closed at this time of the evening,” said Callahan. “But it brings them down on the West Side and it gives them a positive feedback about the west side.”
Oktoberwest also gives local business owners a chance to visit with each other. “Most of your business owners here on the west side are family businesses,” said Callahan. “So they don’t get out of their business very often so this gives them an opportunity to buy a table and buy their family and interact with other business owners.”
OktoberWest is Saturday, Oct. 15 from 4-8 p.m., on Bigley Avenue in the lot behind Kelly’s Men’s Shop.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Share on Facebook
Posted Monday, October 3, 2011 ; 05:44 PM
Updated Monday, October 3, 2011; 07:16 PM
Annual festival helps bring community together.
CHARLESTON – It’s that time again. Time to celebrate fall, and celebrate the West Side of Charleston. The fourth annual OktoberWest festival kicks off Saturday. Organizers said is a lot of fun, but this event is also bringing a community together.
“It’s really an old fashioned block party,” said West Side Main Street Executive Director Pat McGill. “It gets people out, it gets them over to the West Side to see what kind of things that we’ve been able to accomplish with revitalization and gets them used to coming to the West Side. We’re really pleased that it establishes a sense of community.”
But pulling this event off takes a lot of work. “[We have] lot’s of volunteers coming in,” McGill said. “We’ve got great sponsors this year and two new bands so we’re really looking forward to putting on a really nice event for the West Side.
This is the fourth year for OktoberWest, and organizers said it just keeps on getting bigger and better.
“We started out with around 700 people attending and last year we had about 1,200,” McGill said. “And this year we’re planning on having [more than] 1,500. So it’s grown every year. People have come to expect it as a fun event for the West Side.”
Oktoberwest kicks off with the dedication of the piers Saturday afternoon.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=109281
Share on Facebook
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011 ; 05:45 PM
Updated Monday, July 25, 2011; 06:36 PM
| Artists brave heat and unusual working conditions to complete murals. CHARLESTON – The Interstate Pier murals are nearing completion a full month ahead of schedule. Each one depicts an historic aspect of Charleston’s west side.
“People that walk by we tell them the stories of each of our pillars and they love the history and they love the work,” said Jeff Pierson, one of the pier artists. “They think it’s a great addition to their community and so we’re honored to be a part of that to to own a little color out their in the community.”
A good time maybe, but it hasn’t been without it’s challenges. “The circular format seemed like it was going to be quite a challenge,” said artist Charles Hamilton, “At first it was, ‘how do I do that?”
Pierson added, “The greatest challenge the heat and humidity. The humidity has played a huge role in trying to get these murals finished. Obviously we’re out here in the heat everyday and we’re getting used to the interstate noise, though we like it, it’s kinda a nice ambiance after a while.”
Hamilton agreed. “The heat’s been interesting, but I knew it would be hot,” he said.
While the aim of the painted pillars is to give back to the community, the artists themselves said they’ve been enriched by working with each other. “Most of us haven’t worked together,” said Pierson. “And this has been great for us to come out and be together as artists.”
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=104041
Share on Facebook
As Washington Street rubberneckers have no doubt noticed, local artists are nearing completion of the “Peer to Pier” murals under the I-64 interstate bridge.
Artists have until September to complete designs but many seem poised to beat that deadline by more than a month.
Barrie Kaufman is almost finished with her Native American-inspired mural, “A Good Place to Plant Corn.”
“I wanted to do something Native American. I wanted bright colors and I wanted a female,” Kaufman, an art teacher at Mountaineer Montessori School in Kanawha City, said.
Her design features a woman in flowing Native American garb, her feet in the Kanawha River, with stalks of corn surrounding her on all sides.
“She’s probably a combination of a bunch of different kinds of tribes,” Kaufman said of her eight-foot-tall woman.
While she’s done most of the painting alone, Kaufman also has enlisted the help of her young art students.
Brothers Jonathan Harris, 4, Nicholas, 10, and Blake, 8, along with their friend T.J. Salango, 9, helped Kaufman sling paint Wednesday afternoon. Kaufman’s friend Nancy Johnson also helped out.
“It’s fun to sit here and people drive by and give us the thumbs up,” Johnson said.
She said she’s also seen several car accidents during her time under the bridge. Kaufman said the murals are turning driver’s heads, but haven’t caused any wrecks.
“My funniest story is, this guy drove up with a car full of paint and asked me to paint his bumper. I said no,” Kaufman said.
The project started as part of the city’s FestivALL activities, sponsored by the city’s Strong Neighborhoods Task Force.
Lori Brannon, a neighborhood planner with Charleston’s Planning Department and project manager for the pier project, said she’s only heard positive responses to the murals.
“The artists have all told me people are stopping by, giving them great comments, that they’d like to see more of it,” she said.
The city is interested in sponsoring more murals if funding is available, Brannon said.
Artists submitted proposals in March and a selection committee picked the designs in April. The committee chose 10 designs to cover the 10 interstate piers along Washington Street.
Charleston artist Charles Hamilton just started his column last week but hopes to have it finished by the end of next week.
http://www.dailymail.com/Entertainment/201107211505?build=yes
Share on Facebook
June 20, 2011
Artists begin I-64 murals
Chris Dorst
With the help of Marshall University senior art major Brianna Mullins (center), Charleston artist Bernice Deakins has a head start on her historical mural — part of the FestivALL-sponsored Peer to Pier Mural Project along Washington Street beneath the Interstate 64 overpass. Rob Cleland works on his layout at right.
If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette
Chris Dorst
Christopher Nelson could use another hand as he applies blue masking tape to his pier from a lofty perch atop a scaffold. A jury picked 10 artists to paint murals on the piers — five on each side of Washington Street.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
“I did three designs,” Hamilton said Monday morning at an organizational meeting for the FestivALL Peer to Pier Mural Project.
“They requested historical themes. I did the marijuana plane crashing, with smoke billowing up in the air. I was going to put demons in the smoke, people gathering the marijuana, and marshals running after the people.”
Alas, judges rejected Hamilton’s vision of the infamous June 1979 pot plane crash, in which a DC-6 rolled off the end of a Kanawha (Yeager) Airport runway when its brakes failed, spilling 10 tons of baled marijuana over the hillside and creating a bonanza for bag-toting pot scavengers the following night.
“It was like, ‘I don’t think so,’” Hamilton said of the judges. They also vetoed his image of the Funeral Parade, once a mainstay of the defunct Sternwheel Regatta.
So Hamilton will be painting what should be a safe scene — a Kanawha riverscape with a boat, a train and downtown buildings in the background. If you look closely, he might even include a tiny Funeral Parade, he said.
Peer to Pier organizers gave Hamilton a prime site for his mural — the first pier on the right as you drive under the Interstate toward the West Side. The 10 selected artists checked their pier assignments, along with other details about the project, on Monday.
Though billed as a FestivALL event, the murals do not have to be finished until this fall, FestivALL public arts coordinator Naomi Bays said. West Side Main Street, one of the project sponsors, will dedicate the murals during the group’s annual Octoberfest, she said.
Still, FestivALL-goers who stop by the site are likely to see activity at work this week. Many of the artists began mapping out their work on Monday.
Rob Cleland, a veteran of several public art projects, was already up on his scaffold as the meeting was breaking up, figuring out how to transfer his design to the 4-foot-wide cylindrical column.
“I’ll project it onto newsprint and use a pounce wheel — like a pizza cutter with points.” The wheel will punch small holes in the newsprint as he traces the outline of his design. After attaching the newsprint to the column, “I’ll use a chalk bag. Where the penetrations are, it puts the design on the pier.”
Ian Bode plans to use another system. “I’m going to do the grid, like you see in children’s magazines. I do kind of a comic style. Someone told me it’s like Keith Haring, with a bit of narrative.
“Mine will be on the history of music in West Virginia, starting with bluegrass music — the slaves bring African music, the banjo, mixing with the Irish settlers, and going through Mountain Stage.
“I’m trying to stay away from typical West Virginia history,” Bode said. “It’s interesting. None of the artists did coal, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
One of the challenges of the pier project is the shape of the piers, several artists said. “You can’t project onto a cylinder,” Cleland said. “It distorts.”
Jeff Pierson, picked for a pier facing the southbound lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue, said traffic signs partially obscure his site. “I was driving by yesterday. So I have to decide where to put my main design.”
Cleland hopes to start painting in a couple of days. “I’ve got my top three pieces projected already. It will be a party … spectacle.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If Charly Hamilton had his way, one of Charleston’s best known plane crashes would soon be memorialized on one of the Interstate 64 bridge supports along Washington Street.
“I did three designs,” Hamilton said Monday morning at an organizational meeting for the FestivALL Peer to Pier Mural Project.
“They requested historical themes. I did the marijuana plane crashing, with smoke billowing up in the air. I was going to put demons in the smoke, people gathering the marijuana, and marshals running after the people.”
Alas, judges rejected Hamilton’s vision of the infamous June 1979 pot plane crash, in which a DC-6 rolled off the end of a Kanawha (Yeager) Airport runway when its brakes failed, spilling 10 tons of baled marijuana over the hillside and creating a bonanza for bag-toting pot scavengers the following night.
“It was like, ‘I don’t think so,’” Hamilton said of the judges. They also vetoed his image of the Funeral Parade, once a mainstay of the defunct Sternwheel Regatta.
So Hamilton will be painting what should be a safe scene — a Kanawha riverscape with a boat, a train and downtown buildings in the background. If you look closely, he might even include a tiny Funeral Parade, he said.
Peer to Pier organizers gave Hamilton a prime site for his mural — the first pier on the right as you drive under the Interstate toward the West Side. The 10 selected artists checked their pier assignments, along with other details about the project, on Monday.
Though billed as a FestivALL event, the murals do not have to be finished until this fall, FestivALL public arts coordinator Naomi Bays said. West Side Main Street, one of the project sponsors, will dedicate the murals during the group’s annual Octoberfest, she said.
Still, FestivALL-goers who stop by the site are likely to see activity at work this week. Many of the artists began mapping out their work on Monday.
Rob Cleland, a veteran of several public art projects, was already up on his scaffold as the meeting was breaking up, figuring out how to transfer his design to the 4-foot-wide cylindrical column.
“I’ll project it onto newsprint and use a pounce wheel — like a pizza cutter with points.” The wheel will punch small holes in the newsprint as he traces the outline of his design. After attaching the newsprint to the column, “I’ll use a chalk bag. Where the penetrations are, it puts the design on the pier.”
Ian Bode plans to use another system. “I’m going to do the grid, like you see in children’s magazines. I do kind of a comic style. Someone told me it’s like Keith Haring, with a bit of narrative.
“Mine will be on the history of music in West Virginia, starting with bluegrass music — the slaves bring African music, the banjo, mixing with the Irish settlers, and going through Mountain Stage.
“I’m trying to stay away from typical West Virginia history,” Bode said. “It’s interesting. None of the artists did coal, not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
One of the challenges of the pier project is the shape of the piers, several artists said. “You can’t project onto a cylinder,” Cleland said. “It distorts.”
Jeff Pierson, picked for a pier facing the southbound lanes of Pennsylvania Avenue, said traffic signs partially obscure his site. “I was driving by yesterday. So I have to decide where to put my main design.”
Cleland hopes to start painting in a couple of days. “I’ve got my top three pieces projected already. It will be a party … spectacle.”
Reach Jim Balow at ba…@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
Share on Facebook
| Many still stuck around for a free cone.
By Nicky Walters
Email | Bio | Other Stories by Nicky Walters
CHARLESTON – FestivALL continued Sunday with the annual Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social on the West Side of Charleston.
Those who attended were treated to a free cone.
The weather wasn’t cooperative though.
A musical performance was interrupted when a soaking spring rain blew through.
Ice cream enthusiasts took shelter under tents.
But most said it didn’t ruin the good time.
“I thought it was going to be nice and sunny. But it is worth it for this,” said Ally Lilly, of Charleston while enjoying an ice cream cone.
The event was hosted at Stonewall Jackson Middle School.
West Virginia State Extension Services offered free healthy ice cream toppings.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=101769
Share on Facebook
|
FestivALL organizers estimate one in five visitors could be from out of town.
By David Iversen
Email | Other Stories by David Iversen
CHARLESTON – FestivALL held several events Saturday, including a 5k race, a parade through downtown Charleston and wiener dog races on Charleston’s West Side.
Festival organizers estimate 20 percent of the crowd in Charleston are from out of town.
Libby Ballard, organizer of the Wiener Dog Races said that event has gotten bigger every year since she started it five years ago.
“It just gets bigger and bigger every year,” said Ballard. “It’s an opportunity for the community to come in and enjoy something that is free and family-oriented.”
FestivALL continues through the week with events held every day. For a full list of events, click the link below.
Related Links:
- FestivALL Schedule
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Media. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
http://wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=101735
Share on Facebook
Craig Cunningham
Karen Shearer’s 9-year-old dachshund, Kasey, has won the Adult Division II category of the FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race for the past three years. Shearer uses a balloon to motivate Kasey to run her fastest.
A dynasty will end Saturday at the fifth annual FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race.
For the past three years, Kasey, a 9-year-old dachshund, has carried the title as fastest wiener in the category for dogs 5 to 9 years old.
The domination that Kasey and her owner, Karen Shearer, have enjoyed ends this year because the speedy wiener’s owner has to work on race day.
“Even if you don’t race, it’s so much fun and it’s for a great cause to raise money for the animals, but I really hate that I can’t attend this year. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year to keep the tradition going with her,” Shearer said.
All of the proceeds from Saturday’s race go to the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter.
The race has grown from 60 dogs registered in the first year to almost 100 dogs last year. This year, wiener dogs from as far away as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida are expected to show up.
Libby Ballard, the race coordinator, said the first few rounds of competition weed out the lollygagging wieners. The dedicated runners get more and more competitive until the finals.
The level of competitive spirit has grown along with Kasey’s persistent legacy.
“I’m sure everyone is out to get Kasey,” Ballard said.
The West Side race isn’t the only track Kasey’s little legs have sprinted over. After her 2009 victory, Shearer put Kasey to the test against the champion of the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival’s own wiener dog race in Huntington.
Needless to say, Kasey came out as the top dog that day.
“I was so proud of her. She’s fast,” Shearer said.
Despite her continuous success on the wiener racing circuit, Kasey doesn’t get any more exercise than the average dog. In her first year, Shearer would take the dog to Joplin Park in South Charleston for a couple of practice runs, but ever since then she’s known the drill on race day.
Shearer says the secret is finding the dog’s weak spot. For Kasey, seeing a balloon at the finish line was en “When they let her go, she just takes off,” Shearer said.
Owners are allowed to bringing a favorite toy or treat, but Ballard says anything that counts as “food food” can’t be used as a doggy motivator.
Motivators aside, nothing comes between some of the wiener dogs and their desire to greet each other in the traditional snout-to-bottom manner mid-race.
Ballard says the races get faster as the number of competitors drops by elimination.
“What you will notice is in the very first race some will just stop or come back to the starting point and one or two will really dash to the finish line. But as they get eliminated, they finish by a nose,” she said.
Kasey has never participated in the costume competition, although Shearer says she sometimes dresses her up as Wiener Claus on Christmas.
The judges for this year’s costume contest will be Jessica Ralston from WSAZ-TV along with Steve Bishop and Jenny Murray from V-100 radio.
In the past, dogs have been dressed in a wide range of get-ups, posing as spaghetti and meatballs, lobsters and racecar drivers.
Thanks to the recent scandal surrounding New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, Ballard says she’ll be on the lookout for the West Side’s own Rep. Wiener — as long as it’s in good taste, of course.
“If we saw something in bad taste, we would stop it, but I don’t think anything like that has happened before,” she said.
The fifth annual FestivAll Charleston West Side Wiener Dog Race will be at Stonewall Jackson Middle School on Saturday, with registration starting at 10:30 a.m. A registration fee of $20 will be charged for all dogs registered on race day.
For now, Kasey, the defending Adult Division II champion, will have to cool her jets until next year’s race, when she’ll be another year older and thus bumped up to the Senior Division to compete against dogs who are 9 or older.
“We’ll be back next year to hopefully continue her winning tradition,” Shearer said.
Contact writer Amber Marra at amber.ma…@dailymail.com or 304-348-4843.
Share on Facebook
