Mother’s Day began in the Andrews Methodist Church now known as the International Mother’s Day Shrine.

Mother’s Day was first celebrated on Sunday, May 10, 1908, in Grafton, W.Va., in the Andrews Methodist Church now known as the International Mother’s Day Shrine.

Anna Jarvis is recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day.

During the Civil War, the Jarvis family lived in Webster, a community south of Grafton. Anna’s mother, Ann Jarvis, provided nursing care and promoted better sanitation during the war years. After the war, Ann continued her work and strove to bring families and communities back together.

In 1902, the family moved to Philadelphia where Ann would die on May 9, 1905. On the second Sunday in May 1907, Anna invited several friends to her home to commemorate her mother’s life. Anna announced her idea of a day of national celebration in honor of mothers.

Anna Jarvis wrote to Andrews Methodist Church suggesting that the church, in which her mother had taught classes for 20 years, celebrate a Mother’s Day in her honor.

Anna established the white carnation as the symbol of the celebration and developed programming activities in honor of the event. On April 26, 1920, West Virginia Gov. William E. Glasscock issued the first Mother’s Day proclamation. In 1912, at the General Methodist Conference, Anna was recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day. A joint resolution in the U.S. Congress designated the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day and was approved by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

Andrews Methodist Church has been designated a National Historic Landmark and is the focal point for the celebration. In 2008, the International Mother’s Day Shrine and the City of Grafton celebrated the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day. Each year, the Carnation Ball is held in April to raise funds for the shrine.

The Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum is located in Webster.

Tim and Melody Urbanic at Cafe Cimino

MountainMade has another home and it’s right in the center of West Virginia.  Café Cimino Country Inn in Sutton is now featuring the fine arts and crafts of some of West Virginia’s best artists. Now, when shopping for MountainMade artisan gifts, one can also enjoy their “new digs”.

Café Cimino Country Inn offers 10 elegant guest rooms in an exquisite Colonial Revival Estate, circa 1898. Gracefully situated on the Elk River, the Inn affords discriminating guests casual elegance and a beautiful, peaceful atmosphere for their getaway. Guests of the Inn also enjoy spa services and recreation on the Elk River and Sutton Lake. The grounds are spacious and inviting, offering several little “nooks and crannies” where you can relax and talk, read, enjoy a meal or just “be“.

Café Cimino Country Inn’s restaurant is a leader in West Virginia’s “Farm to Table” and the “Slow Food” Movement. As in Italy, dining at Cimino’s allows one to enjoy the whole experience and linger for hours with friends and family. The Inn features fresh food grown on the family farm and by local growers. The chefs at the Inn have been trained by Executive Chef Tim Urbanic, an old world chef, whose reverence for food and of the dining experience has made this property one of West Virginia’s premiere destinations.

The Urbanics say that the addition of MountainMade to the Inn’s amenities is a “perfect fit” since both businesses’ share the same clientèle.  ”I think that our demographic/target markets are the same people; ones that know, appreciate and demand quality in whatever they do in life”, adds Melody.

Melody Urbanic
Chef Tim Urbanic
Café Cimino Country Inn

This photo of blazing fall foliage at Dolly Sods Wilderness Area in Tucker County, is one of many available online from MountainMade photographer Ed Rehbein.

The leaves are beginning to display their autumn colors just in time for the Leaf Peepers Festival, September 24-26.

This year marks the 22nd year for this exciting community event. Every year MountainMade works with the Alpine Festival, the Tucker Community Foundation, and the Tucker County Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the events that our visitors from near and far enjoy.

This year will feature a Fireman’s Parade on Friday and a car show on Sunday. This year the annual Tucker County Chamber of Commerce Silent Auction will be held from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm in the Davis Fire Hall on Saturday. MountainMade has donated a basket of handmade candles to the event. Profits from the auction help defray the costs associated with the festival.

MountainMade hopes you will visit the Gallery during the event. The Gallery’s featured artist this month is Bruce Wilson who makes much of his own papers and using flowers, leaves, fibers, etc. to create.  An archivist by education, he elegantly mattes and frames each piece under archival glass.

MountainMade will host its traditional food tasting on Saturday and Sunday. A variety of West Virginia food artisans will be featured. In addition, a special selection of items will be discounted for the event.

MountainMade staff hopes you will drop by the Gallery on Douglas Road sometime over the Festival weekend.

Come see the fall foliage for Leaf Peepers Festival, and swing by the majestic Blackwater Falls.

The nights are getting a bit cooler and kids and teachers are going back to school. Ready or not, fall is upon us. The trees are a-bloom with apples and there’s a hint of fall colors beginning to emerge.

September is around the corner. There’s still time to come in and find a great deal on acrylic/pastel artist Beth Crowder, and botanical artist Bruce Wilson will soon be exhibiting in the Gallery.

Bruce makes much of his own papers and using flowers, leaves, fibers, etc., to create. An archivist by trade, he elegantly mattes and frames each piece in archival glass.

Whether for your home or office check out Matt Thomas’ shelves (24” and 32”). Handcrafted using West Virginia oak, cherry and walnut, Matt’s shelves offer a lasting elegance and and much needed space to your workspace.

It’s the perfect time to plan a get away to Thomas. There are some great room rates and lots of fresh air. Don’t forget Leaf Peepers Festival, Sept. 24-26, 2010.

Memorial Day brings memories of parades, picnics and a day off from work or school.

In West Virginia, the origins of Memorial Day go back to the Civil War. In 1867, Maj. R. C. Bates was ordered by the War Department to locate a permanent burial site for the Union soldiers who had died in hospitals and battlefields throughout West Virginia.

Bates chose the Grafton location because it was relatively level in a region noted for mountainous terrain and it was near Maple Avenue Cemetery, where many war dead had already been buried. In 1867, Grafton held a “Flower Strewing Day” later called Memorial Day to honor those who served the community and the country during the Civil War.

In 1903, Thornesberry Baily Brown was reinterred at Grafton National Cemetery. Brown was rumored to be the first Union casualty of the Civil War, having been killed May 22, 1861, when he refused a Confederate sentry’s order to halt and shot the sentry in the ear. The sentry responded by shooting Brown through the heart.

Grafton has the honor of celebrating the longest ongoing Memorial Day observance in the country. Grafton now celebrates the Spirit of Grafton, a weekend festival around the parade. Though casual today, in years past men dressed in suits and ties and ladies in dresses and hats for the parade which was followed picnics and swims at Tygart Lake.

Today, like yesterday, school children march in the parade through town to the Grafton National Cemetery where they place flowers and American flags on the graves. The parade is still followed by picnics.

Taylor County hosts both the Grafton National Cemetery, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and the West Virginia National Cemetery located approximately five miles west of Grafton. These cemeteries are the only national cemeteries in West Virginia. The West Virginia National Cemetery was created in 1987 because the Grafton Cemetery was running out of burial space.

Aurora Celtic will be performing at the Purple Fiddle on February 18, 2010. Photos here courtesy of the Purple Fiddle.

The Irish/Old-time band Aurora Celtic will be playing at the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, WV on Thursday February 18th. They call their brand of music “Mountain Irish,” and it includes traditional and original music on fiddle, mandolin, Irish Flute, banjo and guitar. You can listen to Aurora Celtic’s music and see their upcoming performance schedule on the Aurora Celtic Myspace page.

Aurora Celtic’s band members include MountainMade’s own IT manager, Mike Broderick, who plays fiddle and mandolin. Other band members are Alice Fleischman on flutes, whistles and banjo, and Aaron Martin on guitar. The band members are residents of Tucker and Preston County, West Virginia, and play throughout the Mid-Atlantic area. They will be recording a new CD in March and will have CDs from Mike and Alice’s former band, Wolf Creek Session, available at the show.

The Purple Fiddle is a well-known local music venue that hosts many of the MountainMade musical artists as well as national touring groups. The atmosphere at the Purple Fiddle lends itself to an intimate concert experience which is smoke-free, family friendly, and includes a wide range of delicious food and beverage. Check the Purple Fiddle’s musical calendar for other great upcoming shows. Hope to see you at the show on February 18th.

Who is your favorite MountainMade musical artist or group, and when are they performing at the Purple Fiddle?

Catch Aurora Celtic in concert at the Purple fiddle in downtown Thomas, WV on February 18, 2010.