CVB Visitor Views - April 19, 2012

Creations by 36 artists from West Virginia and eight other states have been selected for display in the Berkeley Arts Council's 2012 Art and Earth Juried Exhibit. The show will be open to the public in the gallery of The Arts Centre, 300 West King Street in Martinsburg.

The exhibit opens Friday, April 20 with a reception from 5 - 7 pm. Visitors are welcome from 12 noon to 4 pm Tuesday through Saturday until May 19. With the title "Art and Earth: My Art, My World," 52 pieces were selected for the exhibit by Juror Laura Amussen, Director of Exhibitions and Art Collection Coordinator at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. She reviewed more than 100 works in various media, expressing the artists' feelings about nature and the environment.

Local artists whose work was accepted include SJ Brown, Joe Fairbanks, Barbara Keech, and Mike Pulsifer of Martinsburg; Mary-Jo Bennett and Kimberly Bickett of Hedgesville; Daniel Peck of Shepherdstown; Gary Bergel and Curt Mason of Charles Town; Tiffany Fritts, Jim Koenig and Earl Mills of Harpers Ferry. A full list of the accepted artists and works is posted on the Berkeley Arts Council website by visiting www.BerkeleyArtsWV.org.

The Art and Earth Juried Exhibit is a collaboration between:

"Death by Chocolate" at the Apollo

Members of the newly renovated Meadowbrook Health Resort are dropping like flies, including famed chef Edith Chiles! On the eve of the grand re-opening, this is not the best advertisement! It's up to John Stone, the manager, to find the cause and the murderer. Delightfully sarcastic and cynical. Stone finds himself teaming up with Ed Parlor, mystery writer and amateur sleuth, in a wacky race against time.

The clues point to a sinister box of chocolates, and the suspects include all the outlandish characters working for the resort. Could it be Lady Riverdale, owner of the resort, and a woman with dark secrets? Or Ralph Deadwood, gym instructor and all around cad? Dick Simmering, the aerobics instructor? Anne, the panic stricken nurse? Or could it be "Sweet Pea" Meadowbrook, overweight and grieving daughter of the recently deceased founder of the resort? Combining all the elements of classic murder mysteries with a scathing satire of today's health crazes.

Performances will be on April 20, 21, 27, and 28 at 8:00 pm and April 22 and 29 at 2:30 pm at the Apollo Civic Theatre, located at 128 East Martin Street in downtown Martinsburg. Visit www.Apollo-Theatre.org for more information.

Speaking of Chocolate ...

Downtown Martinsburg will transform into a chocolate lover's dream as Main Street Martinsburg and Blue Ridge CTC present the Chocolate Fest & Book Fare, April 27 and 28.

Friday evening will feature a chocolate preview, with decadent events around town. When you're craving more sweetness on Saturday, events from 10 am to 4 pm include chocolate tastings at various businesses, an Edible Book Faire, tours at DeFluri's, free showings of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory at the Apollo, chocolate and pastry demos, children's activities, arts and crafts, book signings, and more!

For the complete schedule of events and locations, call 304-264-4200, visit www.MainStreetMartinsburg.com. Click the image below for a printable poster.

All ABOARD!

For the kids, by George children's museum is opening this fall and needs your help. Specifically, they are looking for photos and memorabilia of the many men and women who worked for the B&O Railroad and made Martinsburg one of the most historic railroad cities on the continent.

Last year on behalf of the museum, the City of Martinsburg sought the support of the North American Railway Foundation (NARF) and secured - at no cost to the City - $50,000 in direct funding. NARF is a foundation dedicated to helping communities enhance railroad safety and recognize their railroad heritage. With those funds, the children's museum is organizing a "Working on the Railroad" exhibit whose primary goal is to help kids aged 4 to 12 understand what it was like to work for the railroad, and the availability today of many challenging railroad careers.

The exhibit will feature hands-on exhibits, old railroad tools, images of railroad places and workers, and all sorts of activities. Over the past 170 years, thousands of Panhandle residents worked for the B&O and Cumberland Valley Railroads. The museum hopes to tell their stories and would like to know more about who they were, what they did, and share pictures and accounts of their work and lives.

The project has already arranged with the B&O Railroad Historical Society to digitize hundreds of documents and pages from the old B&O Magazine (the monthly employee's publication) mentioning Martinsburg B&O employees. The museum hopes that this information will help your family connect with your railroad past and document family members who worked for the railroad.

Should have you have pictures, documents, or information about family or friends who worked for the railroad in the Eastern Panhandle, they would like to hear from you. Lisa Dall'Olio is the museum's contact point and will be happy to explain the hopes for this project in detail. She can be reached at 304-267-2120.