CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A nationwide video campaign, aimed at uniting Americans, features several cities in West Virginia.
Honor Your Hometown was created by Nitro native Dan McGinn. His goal is to remind residents that what we have in common is greater than any differences we may have.
West Virginia is the foundation for the documentary, which spotlights cities such as Nitro, Charleston and Huntington.
“It lets people know that we’re not really that divided. We’re all the same, we want the same thing for our communities. We want to see our communities thrive, see our children do well, our schools do well. We all have basically the same goals,” said Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt.
Casebolt joined Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin on Monday’s “580 Live” heard on MetroNews affiliate 580-WCHS. He said Republican and Democratic issues don’t matter at the city level.
“We have our differences that we discuss and we work them out and reach final goals. It seems like when you get above the small town community, that’s when politics come into play,” he said.
Goodwin agreed.
“We get so focused on politics, but at its base, cities and municipalities are focused on our people, what we love and our connection to one another,” she said.
In Charleston’s portion of the video, Goodwin said they decided to highlight their music and art culture including a nod to Mountain Stage and the late artist Charles Jupiter Hamilton.
Casebolt said Nitro was born out of the war, something they want people to know more about.
“We have a very strong history of helping the war effort during World War I. We’re also a very tight knit community,” he said.
In the campaign, country music star Kathy Mattea, talks about her pride for her hometown of Cross Lanes. Mountain Stage co-creator Larry Groce sings the theme song for the legendary radio program. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams also chimes in and said the first time he visited Huntington he thought it was what New York City must look like.
The co-writer of “Country Roads Take Me Home”, Bill Danoff, also tells of its origins and sings a verse in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Some of the more prominent figures in the video include Dolly Parton, the late General Colin Powell, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Broadway star Kristen Chenoweth and Oscar winner Jon Batiste.
To view the campaign page, CLICK HERE.