CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Division of Culture and History will commemorate West Virginia’s 154th birthday with several festivities planned across the state on Tuesday.
Activities will take place at the state Culture Center in Charleston, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park in Logan and West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling.
All events are free and open to the public.
Caryn Gresham, deputy commissioner for the state Division of Culture and History, said the state and its people will be celebrated all day.
“I think one of the things that makes West Virginia so unique is that we area a state of people who are very proud of the state that we live in,” she said.
The state’s history, Gresham said, will be highlighted throughout the day from West Virginia natives.
“West Virginians are always sharing and passing down their heritage — both personal and their community heritage to each other, so we have a real sense of where we’ve come from and where we’d like to go,” she said.
“I think the fact that we are neighbors, not just to the people we live beside, but also to the people who come to visit us make this a very special state,” Gresham continued.
Culture Center festivities include:
- 9-10 a.m.: The sale of Blenko Glass’ 154th West Virgina birthday piece.
- 10-11 a.m.: Youth activities in the Education Room.
- 11 a.m.: Author Thorny Lieberman speaks about his new book “The West Virginia Capitol Building” in the Great Hall.
- 12 p.m.: Cutting of the birthday cake.
Grave Creek Mound will host the following activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
- Special family-oriented crafts.
- Showing of “West Virginia: A Film History,” a documentary series produced by the West Virginia History Film Project and the West Virginia Humanities Council.
- Visitors can make gold and blue West Virginia necklaces using beads and patterns at the Discovery Table.
- “West Virginia Scavenger Hunt in a Bottle,” which allows visitors to add small items, like a birthday message, to a plastic bottle filled with blue and yellow rice.
Museum in the Park will host the program “Museum in the Park Rocks.” Visitors can paint rocks throughout the day and design a special message.
Life-size cardboard cutouts of both a Union and Confederate soldier with open face holes will be available for photograph opportunities at West Virginia Independence Hall in Wheeling. Other activities will be on hand from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.