Good morning!
I’m back today to give you updates and recaps about news and events going on around the Southwest, as I’ll continue to do in this weekly column.
I’m doing my best to keep up with all the news around here as a newcomer, and I really want your input. What should I be covering? Who has good stories in your community? What question do you want answered?
You can email me, anna@cardinalnews.org, or come to my meet and greet in Big Stone Gap on Thursday, Aug. 20. The ice cream is on us!
Dickenson County addiction treatment center to open next month
The opening of an addiction treatment center has been a promise to the people of Dickenson County, and greater Southwest Virginia for more than five years. The county economic development authority decided to bring recovery to its community, which has limited treatment options and one of the highest overdose death rates in the state.
Next month, it will begin to be fulfilled, with Wildwood Recovery Center opening on Sept. 28.
The 112-bed residential treatment center will accept referrals prior to opening, said Matt Boggs, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Momentum Management Solutions, Wildwood’s operator. On the 28th, the first clients will be admitted.
Boggs said patients have to be referred to the center, but that can come from multiple sources: families and organizations, as well as from the justice system and self-referrals. Those interested can call Wildwood’s admissions line to get the process started.
He added that admissions will be gradual after the opening, with beds increasing over the course of about six months.
“We have our own projections internally … but there will be instances we go outside of that because we want to serve the community,” Boggs said.
Hiring is also continuing for the recovery center, which recently brought on administrator Tyler Jordan. Boggs said they will be hiring up until opening day, which will then continue after they get their feet under them.
An opening date for Recovery Connections, a resource hub funded through a $3.3 million opioid abatement grant, has not yet been announced. The hub will be a centralized provider for the center’s partners across the recovery field, including the Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board and Mountain Empire Community College’s Project SOAR, which provides workforce training.
Mountain Music School wraps up its 21st season
Mountain Empire Community College’s annual music school wrapped up last Friday, when about 100 participants, their teachers and families crowded into the school’s performance hall to celebrate what they’d been practicing all week.
It was a joyful scene, with classes of all ages taking the stage to perform at all levels. Before returning to their seats, everyone was handed a certificate to signify a week’s worth of learning about traditional Appalachian music in the mountains.
That’s what the music school is all about, said co-director Tyler Hughes, a resident of Big Stone Gap who also serves as the director of The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail.
Hughes grew up attending the music school, starting the second year the school began and every summer since. He went on to study music at East Tennessee State University and is a professional performer, a life he said started at the school.
Mountain Music School was dreamed up by Sue Ella Boatright-Wells and Ron Short, educators and musicians from Southwest Virginia who realized there weren’t a lot of young people playing traditional music. Hughes said there has always been a focus on accessibility to the school, which is free for students under 18 and low-cost for adults.
Students from the area, and some who make the drive in, take classes each morning during the last week of July in traditional instruments, like the fiddle, mandolin or dulcimer. They eat lunch and see a guest concert each day –– this year featured bluegrass artist Heather Berry Mabe and The Blue Ridge Girls, an Appalachian folk trio.
It all works toward Friday, when the communal tradition of the music is realized on stage.
In one of this year’s performances, Eliah and Elisha Powell, 10-year-old twins who attended the school for the first year, got up on stage to play “Julianne Johnson” on the fiddle. The two said they had a good week learning songs and making friends, and they hoped to be back next year.
“Watching people be excited about music, but also, whether they know it or not, they’re being really excited and proud about their cultural identity here,” Hughes said. “It’s all about passing it on to a new generation.”
High Knob Outdoor Festival starts Saturday
There’s lots to do in Norton and the greater High Knob region over the next week, with a jam-packed festival schedule that stretches through Aug. 15.
From hikes to haunted campfire chats, solar viewing to stargazing, there are plenty of ways to spend time outdoors and meet people –– you can find them all on the festival’s website.
Some events have limited seats, and others are pay to play, so keep that in mind when you’re planning what to attend.
The festival, which started in 2018, used to be a one-day event and is now expanded to offer a variety of activities, said Katie Dunn, High Knob Destination Center director.
The High Knob region includes the city of Norton and communities in neighboring Lee, Scott and Wise counties.
“They all have a different vibe to them –– anything from storytelling workshops to a 5K trail run,” Dunn said.
The week will end next Saturday with a festival in downtown Norton that will include local vendors, food trucks and live music.
