BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Jawbone Park, damaged in the July 21 flood in Buckhannon, reopens this weekend with a national sweepstakes for a newly renovated home in the city.
Mission Appalachia will host a house giveaway on Labor Day at Jaw Bone Park beginning at 1p.m.
Mission Appalachia’s Colin Reger said it’s an opportunity to help a historic neighborhood in Buckhannon and help someone achieve the dream of home ownership at a time when increasing costs make it difficult, if not impossible, for most people.
“We thought it would be a good opportunity to take a house that was in a state of disrepair and bring it to life and help to elevate the entire neighborhood and give someone a chance to win a home when they are so unaffordable these days,” Reger said.
The house is in the Historic District of the city and was not damaged in the devastating flood. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home has an estimated value of $200,000.
“The house was not flooded,” Reger said. “It was high enough up that it was left unharmed. We checked the crawl space the next day, and it was dry as a bone.”
The renovation project is part of a YouTube series that details the work done step by step to the home located on Smithfield Street, the Smithfield House that was originally built in 1915. The episodes are 10 minutes long and give the viewer an opportunity to see details of the home and meet the people involved in the project.
“We’ve been renovating it over the last several months via our YouTube series,” Reger said. “If you look up Mission Appalachia on any social media, you can find the house we’ve been renovating and learn all about that.”
Entries are available up until Labor Day at the website. Stickers for $20 were available early in the sweepstakes; the proceeds go to Feed My Sheep Food Outreach. Reger said they’ve received more than 700,000 entries from 47 states across the country.
“All the entries are from the United States,” Reger said. “There are a couple of states that aren’t allowed to participate because of their local laws—New York, Rhode Island, and Florida.”
For the first time since the July flood, Jawbone Park and the North End Park will be open to the public. The Mission Appalachia, Feed My Sheep Food Outreach event will be the first public event at Jawbone Park since the July floods.
“We’re the inaugural event at the park since the flood,” Reger said. “It will start at 1 p.m. with a cookout including hamburgers and hotdogs; there will be games, and then at 3 p.m. we’ll have the drawing.”