By Hannah Heishman
The Moorefield Town Council’s primary public discussion at their May 20 meeting was Heritage Weekend.
Kriston Strickler, Heritage Weekend’s executive director, requested permission to use the Town Park, and the Carla Hardy Garden across Main Street from the Public Library.
Heritage Weekend is Sept. 26-28, and events are scheduled county-wide.
“It’s been harder and harder to bring back Heritage Weekend after Covid,” Strickler said, adding, “It takes a lot of volunteers.”
Some popular activities, like the Blast from the Past, are volunteer intensive and won’t be back this year because there are too few people to help. Strickler hopes to bring that back next year.
Blast from the Past was a youth-focused event that closed part of Elm Street and provided experiences that included cooking, talking to Civil War reenactors, and other activities to help make history more real.
History Alive!, in which individuals receive grants to deeply study an historical person, then present a history talk as that person, has provided another popular activity — or several of them. If you “saw” Stonewall Jackson, Harriet Tubman, or other historical figures around the county, they were History Alive! presenters.
Federal funding cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts have forced equally steep cuts to states’ arts and humanities programs; History Alive! is suspended, hopefully temporarily.
The Council approved Strickler’s requests to use the Park and the Town Square.
Council members also approved the poll workers list for the upcoming June 10 election. Early voting begins next week and includes Saturday, May 31 and Saturday, June 7, both 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Town office.
The Council went into executive session to discuss hiring personnel. When they exited the session back into regular meeting, they approved hiring two current part-time water plant employees to full time positions.
The next regular meeting is Tuesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
