It seems that the first weeks of 2015 have brought a lot of memories for me.  First, I wanted to mention the retirement of Senator Jay Rockefeller from the United States Senate.  My relationship with the Senator started a long time ago when he came to West Virginia to seek political offices .Being active in a political family I immediately became associated with him and worked very hard on his campaigns.  I worked alongside his wife Sharon as she became involved with West Virginians.  One of her first projects was to organize an outlet where the women of West Virginia who were quilters would have a place to sell their products.  She was a speaker for the Stonewall Jackson Civic Club and participated in our many arts and crafts shows that we sponsored. Once when Jay was coming up here to campaign I suggested that he visit my community of East View and get to know the good people who live there.  It was a cold rainy day when his entourage landed in East View and we had planned a reception at Joe and Angie Guzzies house.  The turnout was good and we all got to know the man who would become our governor and then our Senator.  It was about this time that I suggested that we take pictures of him with my neighbors.  WE did this and everyone seemed to a a picture with him.  This is a practice that he continued until his retirement and many other politicians followed his lead. Whenever I was in Washington D. C. I always stopped at his office and was received very warmly.  I have a photo of him swearing me in as a member of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation which hangs in my office. He was a yearly visitor at the Italian Festival parade.  I will miss him and I thank him for his service to West Virginia.

 

Next, the first weeks of January marked the passing of Governor Arch Moore.  I had a great working relationship with him during the Festival.  He always came to the festival in his green sports coat and had a great time mixing with the attendees. Just recently I had the opportunity to become involved with Shelly Moore Capito and I found her to be as nice as her father.  I was saddened to learn that he had passed away on the day she was sworn into the United States Senate.  Somehow I feel he knew what was happening and how very proud he was of her.

 

And lastly a great lady from East View, Mildred Oliverio passed away this week.  She seemed to be a permanent fixture in East View where she lived with her husband Johnny and their five children. She was one of the best cooks I have ever met but my favorite memory is of her and my mother going out in the fall to find mushrooms.  They would sit on Mildred's back porch cleaning them for hours at a time. Now, I am talking about wash tubs full.  She taught me how to put the mushrooms down in the crock and I still do it to this day. She said her secret was the fresh mint that we put in the crock. I think that it does add its own distinctive taste. What would Christmas be like without "Mildred's" mushrooms? My condolences to her family.

 

The people of the area will be able to participate and listen to a new talk show starting Monday, January 12 at 9:00 A. M. on WAJR-FM 103.3,  WBTQ-FM 93.5 and WSWW-FM 93.5.  The title of the show will be The Mike Queen Show and you will be able to discuss issues and topics important to our families, our communities and our state.  You will be offered the opportunity to ask questions and air your complaints, ideas and congratulations. To be a part of the show call 304 623 3865 during the broadcast hour.  If you cannot listen to the show from a radio, you can listen to the show on a computer from anywhere in the world via the Internet, by logging onto www.wajr.com and click onto Clarksburg, Listen Live. I urge you to be a part of this new show.

 

We had an uninvited visitor to our home this past week.  The flu and we do not know how to get him to leave although I think he has done all the damage he can do and will probably be ready to go somewhere else. Both Dave and I have been very sick and we just seemed to muddle through each day.  The doctor gave us both medication and I truly think this is what helped us get better.  I did not go out of the house for over a week, not even to church and I would not let anyone in our home.  Those who brought food to us left it on the porch and I retrieved it from there. I kept the vaporizer running night and day and feel that this kept the congestion loose in our chests.  And yes, we both had the flu shot although Dave's doctor told him he had a different strain.

 

January is National Soup, Tea and Oatmeal month and we certainly observed this in our house this month.  Thank goodness for Chicken pastina.

 

Take care of yourselves and each other; keep in touch with me at 304 842 2662 and until next week "Now You Have Heard It through the Grapevine."