June 2, 2025 • 36 mins
State Division of Hiways District 4 Manager Earl Gaskins updates projects in the area
Scott's Run Settlement House Executive Director Michael Richard and Outreach Coordinator on help and assistance they need and upcoming events.
Scott's Run Settlement House Executive Director Michael Richard and Outreach Coordinator on help and assistance they need and upcoming events.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:17):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good Monday morning. It is nine oh six, fair skies
and fifty three degrees in the University City Metro Newsaki
Weather says today sunny and a high near seventy A.
Welcome to Talk of the Town. This is your program
highlighting your town the things that are important to you
and your family. I'm Mike Milton. You'll find me on
(00:59):
X as your news guy. We also would love to
hear from you this morning. That text line for you
to get involved in the program is three oh four
Talk three oh four. Ethan Collins is handling our production
duties today. That telephone number is eight hundred seven six
(01:19):
five eight two five five. This morning, we've got doh
District for Manager Earl Gaskins. He'll join us at nine fifteen.
We'll get an update on major projects in our area,
to include the new bridge over the Mond River to
serve the Morgantown Industrial Park I seventy nine work at
(01:40):
both ends of the county, and what about that I
sixty eight bridge that was brought up in a recent
Mond County Commission meeting. We're going to talk about those
things and more with Earl. Certainly appreciate his time today.
And then at nine thirty we've got the executive director
of the Scotts Run sub House, Michael Richard. We're going
(02:02):
to talk with Michael about some of the struggles that
they are facing right now and how members of the
community can help well. Friday waves of rain and wind
left thousands without power initially, however, and I've got the
most recent numbers right here in front of me right now.
(02:25):
In Mond County, just a handful of power outages. Marion
County that number is under one hundred, Harrison County that
number is under fifty. And our friends over in Preston
County have absolutely no one in the dark now. Wetzell
County was one of the counties that was hit pretty
hard on Saturday morning. Those outage numbers are down to
(02:50):
just seventy individual outages in the Wetzell County area and
no serious injuries were reported associated with the storms on Friday.
A former Star City police chief Jessica Colebank she's a
cancer survivor, now newly married and moving to the DC
(03:10):
area to work for the d C Metro nine to
one to one dispatch center right here. On Talk of
the Town on Friday, she explained that she'll be moving
to a department that receives about sixteen thousand calls a week,
and currently she has no plans to work the road
in her immediate future, but she says at some point
(03:33):
that situation could change. A Fairmont State University and their
Model United Nations team one what political science professor Robert
Bolton told us was in effect the third place at
a national United Nations Model conference recently in New York City.
(03:54):
Bolton says the event included over two hundred and fifty
colleges and universities from across the country. Of the Fairmont
State University team received an honorable mention at that event.
Bolton says that they're already planning for their trip next
year to the event. WVU Baseball, they're on their way
(04:17):
to the Super Regional for the second straight year. The
Mountaineers came back from down five runs twice to beat
Kentucky thirteen to twelve. There's a recap at wvmetronews dot
com Winfield Cable Midland. They won state softball championships over
the weekend and the state baseball tournament that will get
(04:41):
underway on Thursday, and of course we'll have coverage of
all the action at wvmetronews dot com. When we come back,
we'll spend a few minutes with District for Manager Earl Gaskins.
We'll get a complete update on road construction, road maintenance,
things like that in the area. This is Talk of
(05:04):
the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w AJR.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Now back to the Talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Good Monday morning, fair skies, fifty three degrees in the
University City and Metro Newsaki Weather says, you know what,
after a week of some pretty questionable weather, we've got
a great day today. Sunshine, seventy degrees for the high
temperature in studio this morning, we've got the District for
Manager Earl Gaskins with us in Earl. Good morning, Thank
(05:46):
you very much for coming in.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, thank you, Michael. It's a pleasure being.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Here, absolutely well, it's a pleasure to have you here
before we talk about roads, tell us a little bit
about Earl Gaskins. How'd you get into road construction?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, I've moved with Apartment of Highways for many years.
My mother worked for the Apartment Highways and I kind
of inherited, I guess, but you know, it's a labor
of love. I mean, I've been employed there for twenty
some years and you know, worked my way up through
the system, and it's something's very near a dear to me.
And you know the fact that I'm out there being
able to help the public is something that I can
(06:20):
I can hang my hat on. I'm very proud of
what I do.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Okay, Well that's great now, or let's start off with
some numbers. How much road do you deal with in
District four?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, it's funny you ask that, Mike. I'm District four.
We have over forty three hundred miles if you put
that in on end, I mean, that's the equivalent of
going from Ocean City, Maryland, to San Francisco and halfway
back across the United States. I mean, and all that
is our focus and all responsibility here in District four
in north central West Virginia.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And I think it's also important to understand that it's
not just the roads, but it's also the ditches. It's
also the shoulders, and it's also and I know ditches
are drainage, but drainage to a roadway is much more
than just a ditch.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Absolutely, keeping that water off the road is instrumental keeping
our road system up and running.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well. You know, earl Mont County is a pretty busy
place and looks like this summer. If you just take
a look around, you don't have to go very far
west over You've got the new bridge coming into the
Morgantown Industrial Park I sixty eight, ice seventy nine. You
know what, if you sold orange barrels, you can make
a million.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Absolutely, absolutely, you know progress, Progress is painful sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
That's true, and it's necessary. So let's start here. Let's
talk about that bridge coming into the Morgantown Industrial Park.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Okay, where are we at with then? Okay, right now,
we're still acquiring some right away we've purchased. Most of
the parcels are still too in contention. But once we
get those right away parcels purchase, then we should be
all right. Also, the contractor think back with a valued
engineering where the possibly can save a little bit of money.
So that's in the committee right now looking at that.
(08:05):
So it's it's rolling, it's moving forward, and it's looking good.
So hopefully if we see good things coming out that soon.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Okay, Well, I got to ask you for the people,
for the members of the public and the traveling public,
are they going to see concrete peers coming up out
of the ground or will there be a lot of
earthwork to start with? I guess do they have to
build a fill in order to start the bridge work?
How's that kind of work?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well, i'd say, you know, initially you're going to start
seeing a lot of clearing and a lot of excavations.
You start seeing the piers grow, and then you know,
as as a progression, you'll see the decking and all
the you know, the superstructure going up and all that.
So it's going to be very interesting to watch this
bridge go up.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think so too. Now what I guess you know
everybody always wants to know when are you going to start?
When are you going to get done?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, like I said, it's already been awarded to a contractor,
so once we want the value engineering gets back through
the committee, and once we've come up with the determination
on that, then construction should start at any time.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Okay, all right, perfect, And then what are we looking
at for completion time? Maybe sometime spring twenty six, Eh.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You're probably more like twenty twenty eight. Okay, Yeah, it's gonna,
it's gonna. It's a very extensive project, so it's going
to take some time.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Okay, Okay. Now, recently there's a bridge over on I
sixty eight. It goes over Decker's Creek in Route seven,
and I think there was a traffic set up there
and there were some questions as to exactly what how
that all came together. So I'd like for you to
walk us through that.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Okay, Well what happened here? Every year, you know, we
do periodic inspections on all of our bridges, and that
one came came to and when we was doing the
inspection on we found some critical findings on it which
created a major safety concern. We had immediately start repairs.
He knew, so that that intail shutting the lane down
and getting some of the material orders. Unfortunately, we've found
(10:04):
delays and getting the material because it wasn't planned work.
We didn't have that kind of material waiting around. It
was the bearings and the acrobolts and some major components
of the bridge. So even though you don't see people
working there, it's still a progress and you can't just
open it up because because of such a safety concern.
I always say safety is not convenient, but it is.
It is the most important thing that we deal with.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And I most certainly understand that. And I guess the
inspections they are that they're not random at all, but
that they certainly come up at times, and then action
is required based on what you find.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Absolutely, I mean there's certain that we have a criteria
and if there are certain critical findings, if you find
something like that, you have to immediately react, you know,
And obviously I know it's inconvenient, but you don't want
someone getting hurt on the bridge. Correct. And that particular
failure was involved in the bearing, which is what the
girder sets on, which it's a very component of the bridge.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, yeah, because I guess the deck is sitting.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
On the girder, right. You when you take the weather
we just had is last winter, and you take all
the chemicals we applied to the road and the inexposed
metal like that. You know, you've got to check that
out and it would you know, we showed it showed
a lot of deteriorations, so something we had to act
on immediately.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And I can only imagine that when you're talking about
bearings and bolts for a bridge, those aren't the kinds
of things that you go to ACE Hardening.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, oh absolutely not. No, you know these, you know,
everything would be unique to that particular bridge. There's testing criteria,
and there's manufacturing criteria, and then you know the vendors
and the particular vendors we have to deal with. So
it's not as easy as just going to go get
in a bolt. I mean, it's very I mean, these are,
like I said, a lot of people's lives depend on that,
so we take it very seriously.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Okay, perfect. Earl Gaskins is with us this morning. He's
the manager of the DH district for area I guess
further on I seventy nine up near the state line,
there's that bridge project, and you know, sometimes in the
afternoon we'll see maybe a congestion delay or something, because
(12:07):
it seems like whenever you restrict the lane, it's always
a race to maybe pass one more car before I
get into that traffic.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Setup, right. You know, it's unfortunate that we have all
this work on one time, but it's also, like I said,
it's progress and you just bear with us. But when
you see traffic control like that, like I tell people,
just be careful, take your time, don't try to race
through there. You know, people's lives depend on it. I
know it's inconvenient, but you give us a couple of
(12:37):
years and you're going to see a tremendous benefit from
these bridges. So just bear with us a couple of years.
We'll have them opened up and we'll have them prepared,
and it's going to be better for everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We're going to address safety head on earl, but before
we do, i'd like for you to try to help
the listening audience understand the logistics of what you do.
You know, every day you guys out a press release
that says, hey, here's where we're going to be in
your county. At the same time that that's happening, maybe
(13:07):
I'm traveling on the opposite end of the county from
where you're working, and I see a pothole and I
call and I report it, and I want to know, well,
why in the world aren't they fixing my pothole?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Well, you go right back to what we said before
about the forty three hundred miles. Mond County alone has
over eye hundred and fifty miles. So if you again,
if you put that in perspective, that's like driving from Morgantown,
West Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida, every day, you know, and
when I got thirty people working, and every day my
guys are scheduled somewhere so you may not see them,
but they may be in the northern part of the
(13:41):
county or they So when we have to react to
a concern, you know, we obviously would take it serious,
but it is it's logistics. I mean, if you, like
you said, if I got a truckload of asphalt, that's
beporty I got, I got to get that off off loaded.
I can't just pack up and go because that's time,
sensu's the material. You know, it's we we try to
be everywhere all the time, but again, with thirty people
(14:03):
in eight hundred and fifty miles, it's sometimes it's very difficult.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, and here's something else I think is important to
think about when someone calls and reports that pothole. Somebody
has to go out there and take a look at
it to make sure that you have the right kind
of materials to fix it. And that could be a
different kind of material, but it's definitely the quantity. And
you can't just necessarily pull off on a report of
(14:27):
a pothole because you just don't know what it's going
to take to fix.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
To immediately when we get when we get a concern,
our first response is we send someone out to physically
take a look at it, and then the criteria we
look at is it a safety concern or is a
convenience concern. If it's a safety concern, obviously we're gonna
make that top priority and we're gonna move our scheduling around.
We're won't take care of it. If it's a matter
of convenience, then the new it may take a little
bit longer. We're still going to schedule. We're gonna take
(14:52):
care of it, but we don't have We're not like
the fire department. We have people waiting for the call.
We have to schedule this work and every call is important,
every citizen is important, but it does take time.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And those calls are important. Your customers, the citizens are important,
but let's talk about the importance of the people that
work for you, that support their families, working on the
roads every day.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, I have to say, I mean the men and
women that work for the Apartment Highways are unsung heroes.
What they do every day is you know, people just don't.
It's people get the wrong idea of what our guys do.
You know, our guys are hard working individuals and they do.
They go out there every day. They put their life
at risk and they're out there trying to serve the
citizens of this area. And you know, without them, I
(15:43):
wouldn't have a job.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
They say, you're runing as good as the people you
surround yourself with. And I'm constantly trying to surround myself
with good people. And the Apartment of Highways, the men
and women of that, Like I said, I can't give
them enough credit.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And I think that that's an important call to really
let motive or snow that we're depending on them to
ensure their safety.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Absolutely. You know, when you talk about safety, you know
people take for grain and when you see there's there's
cones and all that works on it, they think of
an inconvenience. But you realize, we knew we've had two
or three people hit in the last couple of years.
You know, we've lost employees, and that's something that's this destriment.
We're not gonna, you know, we're not gonna get on
TV and talk about it. I mean, it's you know,
(16:27):
but it does happen. Every day. We get people that
it's hurt and injured on the job, and you know,
it's very important we ask everybody just please be careful
and act like it's it's their family. It's out there working.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
You know that you bring up a great, a great
point because recently down in Harrison County, I think in
the Lost Creek area, one of your employees was hit
and that employee was actually responding, uh to, there was
an accident and it required adh response in order to
(16:57):
have a traffic setup and and while that happened, that
that person was hit. So you know, it's not necessarily
always sunshine and three o'clock in the afternoon when your
guys are out there on.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
The road, right, you mean, we do we as we
take it for granted. We see, we see the caution yellow,
the amber lights blink, and we see the coons, and
we get so used to seeing it, we take it
for granted. But at any minute, someone could be out
there in the road and like you know, the individual
you're talking about, he was struck and he'll be he
has lifelong injuries going to be dealing with. We had
(17:32):
a young man killed on the turnpike this year, struck
by vehicle, you know. So it's very dangerous out there,
and people don't realize that's how dangerous it is. But
if you don't believe me, go stay on the interstate
and wants traffic go by seventy miles an hour.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Or don't or don't about that, you know. I guess
that The only other thing that I think is important
to bring up here is the fact that I don't
think motorists in their minds, are out there to hurt
anybody or maime in, buddy, I think that, you know what,
we all have this gene inside of us that when
(18:05):
we get in the car and we're going somewhere, we
want to get there.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Yes, well we got to think yes, you know, I mean,
I know they're called accidents for a reason. No one
intentionally goes out there, but people get a hurry we get,
you get inconvenience, you get frustrated, and it is frustrating,
but you got to understand it's it's for purpose and
those guys that are out there, and I said, it's
we're not there to cause inconvenience as we're out there
to try to fix things, repair and make it better
(18:29):
for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Now, last thing, Earl, you said you've got thirty people
working for you, and now, just off the top of
my head, that count seems like it's a little bit
higher than what it's been in the past.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
We we're doing great as far as hiring people. And
of course, you know Mont County is we struggled over
the years to retain staff. We're getting a good group
of guys there, and you see the difference. You see
like this year Mont County we was able to patch
all the potholes before Moral Day. Now there's still podoles,
the will always be potholes, but every road in the
(19:00):
county was visited Bible or d oh staff this year,
you know, and that's that's key to make sure that
we are out there for the for the folks of
lond County.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Absolutely well, Earl, I know that coming in and talking
on the radio probably isn't a big priority for a
road construction guy like yourself, but I want to thank
you for taking the time to come in and give
us an update on these important projects and some of
the progress that we're going to see over the rest
(19:31):
of the summer. Really do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Well, Thank you, Mike. Anytime I can get on here
and being advocate for my guys and for the for
the people West Virginia, it's a pleasure of being here, and.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I thank you absolutely. That's exactly what we want to do,
that's for sure, Okay, Earl Gaskins District for Manager. When
we come back, I want to spend some time with
the executive director of the Scott's Run Settlement House. They
have been dealing with low food levels after Easter and
Oriel Day, and we're going to talk with Michael Richard
(20:02):
and maybe find out some ways that we can help.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
We are talking about your town. Now, back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Good Monday morning. It is nine thirty five fair skies
and fifty four degrees in the University City, West Virginia.
Five to one one shows an incident free interstate system. However,
if you're traveling in the Westover area. You want to
avoid Holland Avenue like the plague, because it is absolutely
(20:45):
blocked up from just about the Ah the Mond River
side of the bridge coming from Morgantown all the way
up to the top of the hill. Based on what
West Virginia five to one one is showing us at
this hour. In studio, we've got Risha Moore, Good morning, Tricia,
how are you.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Good morning. I'm doing very well. Thank you for having
us today, Mike.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And welcome back.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
And then we also have executive director of the Scots
Run Settlement House Michael Richard, good morning, Hey, how are
you good? How are you today? I'm doing great, doing great, Okay,
So let's start here. Tell us about the status of
your food pantry operations right now.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
We currently serve about eleven hundred people a month through
our food pantry at both our O Sage location at
forty one Lady Bug Drive and O Sage and then
our Cheat Lake location at seven to fifty Fair Chance Road.
So we have our food pantry at both locations. The
one at Cheat Lake is bigger, but both of our
food pantries have been seeing a much increased need.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
For food orders.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
So we have a lot of people that are coming
in that haven't been to either us in a long
time or any services ever, and so the food going
out the door has been more than one it has
been recently. We unfortunately think that that will continue with
some potential cuts that may be coming down the pike
here soon, but especially our Osage location, we've been having
(22:11):
a lot of food go out the doors and could
use a little bit of community help just to help
us get those shelves refilled a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
You know, Michael, when you talk to people, and I
realized that you know a lot of that's confidential information.
But what's driving the increased need? Do you hear anything
from the people you.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Serve that depends a lot of it. A lot of
the people that we serve, majority of people work or
are older, so a lot of times the people majority
of people are fifty five to seventy usually. But things
that just the cost of food going up, so not
only with inflation, but the costs of some government policies
(22:50):
that have come down the pike that have increased the
costs of goods.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
Layoffs, I think, yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Things across layoff changes in the job market, things like
that have people that have come to us for multi generations,
and we also have people that come to us just
because they can't put food on the table this month
because they had a water pump go bad in their
vehicle and that wiped out their entire paycheck. So they're
there's coming to us for a little bit of help.
(23:15):
But a little bit of help that people need seems
to be getting more and more, and we're not alone.
There's lots of other food banks and excuse me, food
pantries around two and they are all seeing increased need
and less supply of food.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
We heard a similar story from Mond County Commissioner Tom
Bloom last week and he was talking about the drastic
reductions in the amount of food that they have available
to give away. Now, Tricia, I guess let's get you
into the program here. Tell us how people can help.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Well, right now, we really are in desperate need of protein,
So any type of donation we can get when it
comes to meat would be greatly appreciated. At this point,
we're looking for chicken, for beef, for pork, you know,
ground beef, anything that you can bring us that we
can put into our food pantry to incorporate that protein
(24:13):
and give back to families around the area would be
much appreciated. So the protein is really something that's really
important for us. We're also looking for pantry staples and
also hygiene staples. You know, there's things that you don't
really think about when you come to a food pantry
and we're handing out not just food, but also items
(24:34):
that are desperately needed for a family. Toothbrushes, also, you know,
deodorant and shower supplies, things like that are also something
that we really could use a lot of right now.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I'm sure cash would be an acceptable donation that would
give you the discretion to be able to get the
things that you need at that moment.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Oh yes, well, never turn down a monetary donation at all.
And those are all of course write offs, so you know,
it is for tax purposes, a great way to give
back to the community and also give yourself a little
bump when it comes to tax return season.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
And you can also designate any gifts just to go
towards food. So if you put it on food at
the bottom of a checker donation or things like that,
then that's how restricted that just goes towards that so
a lot of times we can get food cheaper when
we buy it in Balk, so we'd always want donations
and things like that too, but especially with meat, it's
easier to purchase that in balk because we really can't
(25:32):
take you know, random meat donations that we have walked
through the door just because the chain of safety is
broken on that. But anything that's canned or shelf stable,
we can take donations with that too, So it's all
it all goes in to the same pile of food
to be able to go right back out and help people.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Okay, perfect, Tricia, Yes, what do you have to add?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Well, well, this is all new to me and I
am so very excited to be a part of Scott's Run.
And maybe people don't know how long Scott's Run has
been in the community, but for over one hundred years
they've been serving people of Montingaia County and I'm just
really happy to be a part of that and be
the program coordinator. And of course you're very familiar with
Kelsey and Trey Sadderfield from Paradise Homes. They are such
(26:17):
great people here in the community and give back on
such a big way, a lot, a lot during the
year and we are getting with them. They have help,
are going to help us.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
In July.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
We are going to do our first ever Christmas in
July at Paradise Homes where we will be taking donations
and getting ready for what we expect to be a
very very busy Christmas season. We are expecting, just like
Michael mentioned, with the cuts and the other things that
are going on with the country right now, we are
expecting an even greater need for help this Christmas season,
(26:52):
so we kind of want to get a little bit
of a head start on that. So we're doing our
Christmas in July, and what we're going to be doing
is basically challenge the community here in Monongalia to help
us fill a Paradise Home with the things that we
need for Christmas. And we're doing that in a way
where each room will basically be filled with the things
that we need. We need kitchen staples, we need things
(27:14):
for toddlers, we need toys, we.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
Need things for teens.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
So we'll be doing a lot of that and then
Paradise Homes, being as great as they are for everything
that you donate, keep that receipt because they're going to
be matching that donation and giving back to Scot's Run
Settlement House as well. We are planning to do that
on July twelfth at Paradise Homes. Right now, we do
have a food truck and some other things that we
are planning for this event, but it will be July
(27:41):
twelfth at Paradise Homes at eighteen ninety four Grafton Road
in Morgantown. And you know, whether it's monetary or toys
or anything that you feel you would like to give
back to help us get ready for Christmas, we would
greatly appreciate it. And I have a feeling that I've
already reached out to the north and I've asked if
(28:01):
Santa would take a day off during summer vacation and
made me come in and see us there.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
You know, yeah, you stole my question. And since we're here,
I guess this is an opportunity for everybody in the
community to maybe be their own version.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of Santa exactly. And that's what we're hoping for is
you know, being in this.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
New area with Scott's Run, you do start to realize
just how many of us are struggling now, and you
know it could be your neighbor next door and you
would never know it. And that's one of the things
that I think a lot of people don't necessarily know
about organizations like Scott's Run and just how many people
do rely on us on a regular basis, or like
(28:44):
Michael said, if something does happen and you know, you
do have something happen with your car or something with
your home that kind.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Of takes the rob to Peter to Paul have to
pay for that.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Then you're you're missing out for your kids and your family,
and that's much needed right now.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I think it's accurate to say that sometimes survival for
lower income families is really just kind of a game
of shuffle.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
It is in middle class even now, you know.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
I mean like that's the thing too that you start
to see with the things that are going on in
the community, is you are seeing your neighbors and you
are seeing people who maybe have never had to ask
for help before. And that's certainly a concern for us.
As we get closer to the holiday season, certainly we're.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Gonna work in a real quick break and then when
we come back, I'd like to go through the details
of Christmas in July one more time.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
If that's all right, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Okay, perfect. It is nine forty four fifty three and
Fair Skies in the University City. We're coming back right
after this on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w A j R.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Oh yes it is, and it is nine forty eight.
I'm Mike Nolting right now, Fair Sky's fifty four degrees
in the University City. Don't forget about the Christmas in
July event coming up put on by a Scott's run
settlement house that's coming up on the twelfth of July,
in conjunction with Paradise Homes at eighteen ninety four Grafton Road,
(30:42):
are going to fill a Paradise home full of stuff
and then the folks at Paradise Homes are then going
to match that effort. Sounds like a great event. It's
coming up on July the twelfth. Now tell us about
senior food boxes if you would please sure we.
Speaker 6 (31:01):
Partner with the Mountaineer Food Bank to provide three hundred
boxes of food about thirty three pounds of food usually
of shell stable food to seniors every month in Mond County.
We're the largest provider in the state of that. But
it's that's one of the other programs that we partner
with the Mountaineer Food Bank with that we're to be
(31:22):
frank that we're honestly afraid may go away with funding cuts.
We don't know yet that but there's a lot of
things that are up in the air with what we do.
We also have a lot of produce we give away.
We partner with Sam's Club recent in our local area
to give out extra produce that our food pantry can't
(31:42):
get our use and it's the need for that produce
that we have out just for the community every day
of the week has continued to go up as well.
And it's you know, it's people from all walks of life,
all age groups.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
All backgrounds.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
You know, there's those that you would think that we'd
come into a food pantry a food bank for assistance
and there's those that you would never think that would
be there. So we get the whole gamut of people.
So that's why we try to have different programs that
you know, food insecurity is one of our main focuses,
but we also have other programs and we're wanting to
(32:18):
do additional programs to try to help people as much
as we can.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Tell us about the backpack program, and then we want
Trish to address volunteers.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Sure, so we provide backpack feeding bags to twelve different
schools in Mond County about eight hundred and fifty a week.
So we provide food that goes into those bags that
are shelf stable, lightweight for different lunches, breakfasts, and snacks.
Those go into backpacks while kids at recess or things
(32:47):
like that, and those elementary, middle schools and high schools
in the county, and we have volunteer groups that come
in and pack those and then we take those to
all the schools during the school year. Over the summer,
we'll have some of those bags available at our location
at Osage and Cheat Lake for those that may need it.
Since schools are closed, we won't be able to get
them out to the schools, but if anyone would have
(33:09):
any need for those bags, feel free to contact us
and we can.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Get those for your kiddos.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
And just like every community organization, things don't get done
unless you have volunteers.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
That is true, and we are so thankful to have
a volunteer system that is growing. And if you are
interested in doing any type of volunteering, whether it's individual volunteering,
maybe you're looking for some extra hours that do you
need to fill with school, or if you have an
organization bank, if you'd like to bring your work coworkers
(33:41):
with you and come and volunteer, we always welcome anybody
who's interested in that. If you'd like to do a
food drive for us or any volunteerism like that, we
certainly would be really thankful to have you. If you
have any interest in volunteering, you can reach out to
us at outreach at s SH dot org. That's outreach
(34:02):
atr SRSH dot org and we always welcome people if
you just want to pop by Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
We are at our Cheat Lake location.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
We also would really love volunteerism at our o Sage
building on Thursdays as well, and for those times we
usually start around nine nine thirty from nine to three
that during the week. So if you do have interest
in doing volunteerism, like Michael said, please reach out to
us and we would love to have your group come.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
In absolutely and you brought up a great point. There's
two locations.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes, yes, we do have Osage and cheat Lake.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Both are very busy and we do a great job
of helping the community on each end of the county.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
And don't forget about the Christmas in July event that
is coming up on the twelfth of July. It sounds
like a great event. With Paradise Homes eighteen ninety four
Grafton Road. What they're going to do is depend on
on you to bring food donations to the Paradise Homes
location and you're going to fill up. Now are they
(35:08):
building an extra big home for the event, Well.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
We already have the home picked out and I've already
met with Kelsey and it's going to be a really
nice home that's right off of the road, so you
can just really conveniently pull in and say hi to us.
We've got some things in the planning works where we'll
have some you know, hopefully some games and then anything
that you bring, whether it's monetary or any of the
items we're looking for. We're going to be looking for
(35:33):
diapers and clothes and food and we're going to basically
do it as a challenge to fill the house in
each room. So if we have a toddler's room, we're
going to be looking for toys and things for toddlers.
For middle school will be you know a little like
coloring books and things like that that you would never
think of that are needed, especially for the Christmas holiday.
Then we're going to do that in each room household
(35:54):
items and then just challenge you.
Speaker 5 (35:55):
To see how far we can fill up that home.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
And maybe even Saya will be there to thank you
for your generous donations.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
That'll be great. Now, let's see, Scott's Run Settlement House
has more than one hundred years of history helping families
throughout the county. And of course Michael Richard just told
us that that number right now is in excess of
eleven hundred families that are receiving assistance.
Speaker 6 (36:22):
Just for our food pantry. The other programs are even
more people than that.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
All right, perfect, Well, hey really do appreciate you guys
coming in.
Speaker 5 (36:29):
Well, thank you for having us and Mike, we appreciate
it absolutely
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Clarksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred seven sixty five eight
two fivey five. Now Here is your host for the
Talk of the Town, Mike notlting Well.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good Monday morning. It is nine oh six, fair skies
and fifty three degrees in the University City Metro Newsaki
Weather says today sunny and a high near seventy A.
Welcome to Talk of the Town. This is your program
highlighting your town the things that are important to you
and your family. I'm Mike Milton. You'll find me on
(00:59):
X as your news guy. We also would love to
hear from you this morning. That text line for you
to get involved in the program is three oh four
Talk three oh four. Ethan Collins is handling our production
duties today. That telephone number is eight hundred seven six
(01:19):
five eight two five five. This morning, we've got doh
District for Manager Earl Gaskins. He'll join us at nine fifteen.
We'll get an update on major projects in our area,
to include the new bridge over the Mond River to
serve the Morgantown Industrial Park I seventy nine work at
(01:40):
both ends of the county, and what about that I
sixty eight bridge that was brought up in a recent
Mond County Commission meeting. We're going to talk about those
things and more with Earl. Certainly appreciate his time today.
And then at nine thirty we've got the executive director
of the Scotts Run sub House, Michael Richard. We're going
(02:02):
to talk with Michael about some of the struggles that
they are facing right now and how members of the
community can help well. Friday waves of rain and wind
left thousands without power initially, however, and I've got the
most recent numbers right here in front of me right now.
(02:25):
In Mond County, just a handful of power outages. Marion
County that number is under one hundred, Harrison County that
number is under fifty. And our friends over in Preston
County have absolutely no one in the dark now. Wetzell
County was one of the counties that was hit pretty
hard on Saturday morning. Those outage numbers are down to
(02:50):
just seventy individual outages in the Wetzell County area and
no serious injuries were reported associated with the storms on Friday.
A former Star City police chief Jessica Colebank she's a
cancer survivor, now newly married and moving to the DC
(03:10):
area to work for the d C Metro nine to
one to one dispatch center right here. On Talk of
the Town on Friday, she explained that she'll be moving
to a department that receives about sixteen thousand calls a week,
and currently she has no plans to work the road
in her immediate future, but she says at some point
(03:33):
that situation could change. A Fairmont State University and their
Model United Nations team one what political science professor Robert
Bolton told us was in effect the third place at
a national United Nations Model conference recently in New York City.
(03:54):
Bolton says the event included over two hundred and fifty
colleges and universities from across the country. Of the Fairmont
State University team received an honorable mention at that event.
Bolton says that they're already planning for their trip next
year to the event. WVU Baseball, they're on their way
(04:17):
to the Super Regional for the second straight year. The
Mountaineers came back from down five runs twice to beat
Kentucky thirteen to twelve. There's a recap at wvmetronews dot
com Winfield Cable Midland. They won state softball championships over
the weekend and the state baseball tournament that will get
(04:41):
underway on Thursday, and of course we'll have coverage of
all the action at wvmetronews dot com. When we come back,
we'll spend a few minutes with District for Manager Earl Gaskins.
We'll get a complete update on road construction, road maintenance,
things like that in the area. This is Talk of
(05:04):
the Town on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w AJR.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Now back to the Talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
Good Monday morning, fair skies, fifty three degrees in the
University City and Metro Newsaki Weather says, you know what,
after a week of some pretty questionable weather, we've got
a great day today. Sunshine, seventy degrees for the high
temperature in studio this morning, we've got the District for
Manager Earl Gaskins with us in Earl. Good morning, Thank
(05:46):
you very much for coming in.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Well, thank you, Michael. It's a pleasure being.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Here, absolutely well, it's a pleasure to have you here
before we talk about roads, tell us a little bit
about Earl Gaskins. How'd you get into road construction?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Well, I've moved with Apartment of Highways for many years.
My mother worked for the Apartment Highways and I kind
of inherited, I guess, but you know, it's a labor
of love. I mean, I've been employed there for twenty
some years and you know, worked my way up through
the system, and it's something's very near a dear to me.
And you know the fact that I'm out there being
able to help the public is something that I can
(06:20):
I can hang my hat on. I'm very proud of
what I do.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Okay, Well that's great now, or let's start off with
some numbers. How much road do you deal with in
District four?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
Well, it's funny you ask that, Mike. I'm District four.
We have over forty three hundred miles if you put
that in on end, I mean, that's the equivalent of
going from Ocean City, Maryland, to San Francisco and halfway
back across the United States. I mean, and all that
is our focus and all responsibility here in District four
in north central West Virginia.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
And I think it's also important to understand that it's
not just the roads, but it's also the ditches. It's
also the shoulders, and it's also and I know ditches
are drainage, but drainage to a roadway is much more
than just a ditch.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Absolutely, keeping that water off the road is instrumental keeping
our road system up and running.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well. You know, earl Mont County is a pretty busy
place and looks like this summer. If you just take
a look around, you don't have to go very far
west over You've got the new bridge coming into the
Morgantown Industrial Park I sixty eight, ice seventy nine. You
know what, if you sold orange barrels, you can make
a million.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Absolutely, absolutely, you know progress, Progress is painful sometimes.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
That's true, and it's necessary. So let's start here. Let's
talk about that bridge coming into the Morgantown Industrial Park.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Okay, where are we at with then? Okay, right now,
we're still acquiring some right away we've purchased. Most of
the parcels are still too in contention. But once we
get those right away parcels purchase, then we should be
all right. Also, the contractor think back with a valued
engineering where the possibly can save a little bit of money.
So that's in the committee right now looking at that.
(08:05):
So it's it's rolling, it's moving forward, and it's looking good.
So hopefully if we see good things coming out that soon.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Okay, Well, I got to ask you for the people,
for the members of the public and the traveling public,
are they going to see concrete peers coming up out
of the ground or will there be a lot of
earthwork to start with? I guess do they have to
build a fill in order to start the bridge work?
How's that kind of work?
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Well, i'd say, you know, initially you're going to start
seeing a lot of clearing and a lot of excavations.
You start seeing the piers grow, and then you know,
as as a progression, you'll see the decking and all
the you know, the superstructure going up and all that.
So it's going to be very interesting to watch this
bridge go up.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think so too. Now what I guess you know
everybody always wants to know when are you going to start?
When are you going to get done?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, like I said, it's already been awarded to a contractor,
so once we want the value engineering gets back through
the committee, and once we've come up with the determination
on that, then construction should start at any time.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Okay, all right, perfect, And then what are we looking
at for completion time? Maybe sometime spring twenty six, Eh.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
You're probably more like twenty twenty eight. Okay, Yeah, it's gonna,
it's gonna. It's a very extensive project, so it's going
to take some time.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
Okay, Okay. Now, recently there's a bridge over on I
sixty eight. It goes over Decker's Creek in Route seven,
and I think there was a traffic set up there
and there were some questions as to exactly what how
that all came together. So I'd like for you to
walk us through that.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Okay, Well what happened here? Every year, you know, we
do periodic inspections on all of our bridges, and that
one came came to and when we was doing the
inspection on we found some critical findings on it which
created a major safety concern. We had immediately start repairs.
He knew, so that that intail shutting the lane down
and getting some of the material orders. Unfortunately, we've found
(10:04):
delays and getting the material because it wasn't planned work.
We didn't have that kind of material waiting around. It
was the bearings and the acrobolts and some major components
of the bridge. So even though you don't see people
working there, it's still a progress and you can't just
open it up because because of such a safety concern.
I always say safety is not convenient, but it is.
It is the most important thing that we deal with.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And I most certainly understand that. And I guess the
inspections they are that they're not random at all, but
that they certainly come up at times, and then action
is required based on what you find.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Absolutely, I mean there's certain that we have a criteria
and if there are certain critical findings, if you find
something like that, you have to immediately react, you know,
And obviously I know it's inconvenient, but you don't want
someone getting hurt on the bridge. Correct. And that particular
failure was involved in the bearing, which is what the
girder sets on, which it's a very component of the bridge.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, yeah, because I guess the deck is sitting.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
On the girder, right. You when you take the weather
we just had is last winter, and you take all
the chemicals we applied to the road and the inexposed
metal like that. You know, you've got to check that
out and it would you know, we showed it showed
a lot of deteriorations, so something we had to act
on immediately.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
And I can only imagine that when you're talking about
bearings and bolts for a bridge, those aren't the kinds
of things that you go to ACE Hardening.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Yeah, oh absolutely not. No, you know these, you know,
everything would be unique to that particular bridge. There's testing criteria,
and there's manufacturing criteria, and then you know the vendors
and the particular vendors we have to deal with. So
it's not as easy as just going to go get
in a bolt. I mean, it's very I mean, these are,
like I said, a lot of people's lives depend on that,
so we take it very seriously.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Okay, perfect. Earl Gaskins is with us this morning. He's
the manager of the DH district for area I guess
further on I seventy nine up near the state line,
there's that bridge project, and you know, sometimes in the
afternoon we'll see maybe a congestion delay or something, because
(12:07):
it seems like whenever you restrict the lane, it's always
a race to maybe pass one more car before I
get into that traffic.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
Setup, right. You know, it's unfortunate that we have all
this work on one time, but it's also, like I said,
it's progress and you just bear with us. But when
you see traffic control like that, like I tell people,
just be careful, take your time, don't try to race
through there. You know, people's lives depend on it. I
know it's inconvenient, but you give us a couple of
(12:37):
years and you're going to see a tremendous benefit from
these bridges. So just bear with us a couple of years.
We'll have them opened up and we'll have them prepared,
and it's going to be better for everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
We're going to address safety head on earl, but before
we do, i'd like for you to try to help
the listening audience understand the logistics of what you do.
You know, every day you guys out a press release
that says, hey, here's where we're going to be in
your county. At the same time that that's happening, maybe
(13:07):
I'm traveling on the opposite end of the county from
where you're working, and I see a pothole and I
call and I report it, and I want to know, well,
why in the world aren't they fixing my pothole?
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Well, you go right back to what we said before
about the forty three hundred miles. Mond County alone has
over eye hundred and fifty miles. So if you again,
if you put that in perspective, that's like driving from Morgantown,
West Virginia to Jacksonville, Florida, every day, you know, and
when I got thirty people working, and every day my
guys are scheduled somewhere so you may not see them,
but they may be in the northern part of the
(13:41):
county or they So when we have to react to
a concern, you know, we obviously would take it serious,
but it is it's logistics. I mean, if you, like
you said, if I got a truckload of asphalt, that's
beporty I got, I got to get that off off loaded.
I can't just pack up and go because that's time,
sensu's the material. You know, it's we we try to
be everywhere all the time, but again, with thirty people
(14:03):
in eight hundred and fifty miles, it's sometimes it's very difficult.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Well, and here's something else I think is important to
think about when someone calls and reports that pothole. Somebody
has to go out there and take a look at
it to make sure that you have the right kind
of materials to fix it. And that could be a
different kind of material, but it's definitely the quantity. And
you can't just necessarily pull off on a report of
(14:27):
a pothole because you just don't know what it's going
to take to fix.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
To immediately when we get when we get a concern,
our first response is we send someone out to physically
take a look at it, and then the criteria we
look at is it a safety concern or is a
convenience concern. If it's a safety concern, obviously we're gonna
make that top priority and we're gonna move our scheduling around.
We're won't take care of it. If it's a matter
of convenience, then the new it may take a little
bit longer. We're still going to schedule. We're gonna take
(14:52):
care of it, but we don't have We're not like
the fire department. We have people waiting for the call.
We have to schedule this work and every call is important,
every citizen is important, but it does take time.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
And those calls are important. Your customers, the citizens are important,
but let's talk about the importance of the people that
work for you, that support their families, working on the
roads every day.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Well, I have to say, I mean the men and
women that work for the Apartment Highways are unsung heroes.
What they do every day is you know, people just don't.
It's people get the wrong idea of what our guys do.
You know, our guys are hard working individuals and they do.
They go out there every day. They put their life
at risk and they're out there trying to serve the
citizens of this area. And you know, without them, I
(15:43):
wouldn't have a job.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
They say, you're runing as good as the people you
surround yourself with. And I'm constantly trying to surround myself
with good people. And the Apartment of Highways, the men
and women of that, Like I said, I can't give
them enough credit.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
And I think that that's an important call to really
let motive or snow that we're depending on them to
ensure their safety.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Absolutely. You know, when you talk about safety, you know
people take for grain and when you see there's there's
cones and all that works on it, they think of
an inconvenience. But you realize, we knew we've had two
or three people hit in the last couple of years.
You know, we've lost employees, and that's something that's this destriment.
We're not gonna, you know, we're not gonna get on
TV and talk about it. I mean, it's you know,
(16:27):
but it does happen. Every day. We get people that
it's hurt and injured on the job, and you know,
it's very important we ask everybody just please be careful
and act like it's it's their family. It's out there working.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
You know that you bring up a great, a great
point because recently down in Harrison County, I think in
the Lost Creek area, one of your employees was hit
and that employee was actually responding, uh to, there was
an accident and it required adh response in order to
(16:57):
have a traffic setup and and while that happened, that
that person was hit. So you know, it's not necessarily
always sunshine and three o'clock in the afternoon when your
guys are out there on.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
The road, right, you mean, we do we as we
take it for granted. We see, we see the caution yellow,
the amber lights blink, and we see the coons, and
we get so used to seeing it, we take it
for granted. But at any minute, someone could be out
there in the road and like you know, the individual
you're talking about, he was struck and he'll be he
has lifelong injuries going to be dealing with. We had
(17:32):
a young man killed on the turnpike this year, struck
by vehicle, you know. So it's very dangerous out there,
and people don't realize that's how dangerous it is. But
if you don't believe me, go stay on the interstate
and wants traffic go by seventy miles an hour.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Or don't or don't about that, you know. I guess
that The only other thing that I think is important
to bring up here is the fact that I don't
think motorists in their minds, are out there to hurt
anybody or maime in, buddy, I think that, you know what,
we all have this gene inside of us that when
(18:05):
we get in the car and we're going somewhere, we
want to get there.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Yes, well we got to think yes, you know, I mean,
I know they're called accidents for a reason. No one
intentionally goes out there, but people get a hurry we get,
you get inconvenience, you get frustrated, and it is frustrating,
but you got to understand it's it's for purpose and
those guys that are out there, and I said, it's
we're not there to cause inconvenience as we're out there
to try to fix things, repair and make it better
(18:29):
for everybody.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Now, last thing, Earl, you said you've got thirty people
working for you, and now, just off the top of
my head, that count seems like it's a little bit
higher than what it's been in the past.
Speaker 3 (18:40):
We we're doing great as far as hiring people. And
of course, you know Mont County is we struggled over
the years to retain staff. We're getting a good group
of guys there, and you see the difference. You see
like this year Mont County we was able to patch
all the potholes before Moral Day. Now there's still podoles,
the will always be potholes, but every road in the
(19:00):
county was visited Bible or d oh staff this year,
you know, and that's that's key to make sure that
we are out there for the for the folks of
lond County.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Absolutely well, Earl, I know that coming in and talking
on the radio probably isn't a big priority for a
road construction guy like yourself, but I want to thank
you for taking the time to come in and give
us an update on these important projects and some of
the progress that we're going to see over the rest
(19:31):
of the summer. Really do appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Well, Thank you, Mike. Anytime I can get on here
and being advocate for my guys and for the for
the people West Virginia, it's a pleasure of being here, and.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I thank you absolutely. That's exactly what we want to do,
that's for sure, Okay, Earl Gaskins District for Manager. When
we come back, I want to spend some time with
the executive director of the Scott's Run Settlement House. They
have been dealing with low food levels after Easter and
Oriel Day, and we're going to talk with Michael Richard
(20:02):
and maybe find out some ways that we can help.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
We are talking about your town. Now, back to the
talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Good Monday morning. It is nine thirty five fair skies
and fifty four degrees in the University City, West Virginia.
Five to one one shows an incident free interstate system. However,
if you're traveling in the Westover area. You want to
avoid Holland Avenue like the plague, because it is absolutely
(20:45):
blocked up from just about the Ah the Mond River
side of the bridge coming from Morgantown all the way
up to the top of the hill. Based on what
West Virginia five to one one is showing us at
this hour. In studio, we've got Risha Moore, Good morning, Tricia,
how are you.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
Good morning. I'm doing very well. Thank you for having
us today, Mike.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And welcome back.
Speaker 5 (21:06):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
And then we also have executive director of the Scots
Run Settlement House Michael Richard, good morning, Hey, how are
you good? How are you today? I'm doing great, doing great, Okay,
So let's start here. Tell us about the status of
your food pantry operations right now.
Speaker 6 (21:25):
We currently serve about eleven hundred people a month through
our food pantry at both our O Sage location at
forty one Lady Bug Drive and O Sage and then
our Cheat Lake location at seven to fifty Fair Chance Road.
So we have our food pantry at both locations. The
one at Cheat Lake is bigger, but both of our
food pantries have been seeing a much increased need.
Speaker 2 (21:49):
For food orders.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
So we have a lot of people that are coming
in that haven't been to either us in a long
time or any services ever, and so the food going
out the door has been more than one it has
been recently. We unfortunately think that that will continue with
some potential cuts that may be coming down the pike
here soon, but especially our Osage location, we've been having
(22:11):
a lot of food go out the doors and could
use a little bit of community help just to help
us get those shelves refilled a little bit.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
You know, Michael, when you talk to people, and I
realized that you know a lot of that's confidential information.
But what's driving the increased need? Do you hear anything
from the people you.
Speaker 6 (22:29):
Serve that depends a lot of it. A lot of
the people that we serve, majority of people work or
are older, so a lot of times the people majority
of people are fifty five to seventy usually. But things
that just the cost of food going up, so not
only with inflation, but the costs of some government policies
(22:50):
that have come down the pike that have increased the
costs of goods.
Speaker 5 (22:53):
Layoffs, I think, yeah.
Speaker 6 (22:55):
Things across layoff changes in the job market, things like
that have people that have come to us for multi generations,
and we also have people that come to us just
because they can't put food on the table this month
because they had a water pump go bad in their
vehicle and that wiped out their entire paycheck. So they're
there's coming to us for a little bit of help.
(23:15):
But a little bit of help that people need seems
to be getting more and more, and we're not alone.
There's lots of other food banks and excuse me, food
pantries around two and they are all seeing increased need
and less supply of food.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Unfortunately.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
We heard a similar story from Mond County Commissioner Tom
Bloom last week and he was talking about the drastic
reductions in the amount of food that they have available
to give away. Now, Tricia, I guess let's get you
into the program here. Tell us how people can help.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Well, right now, we really are in desperate need of protein,
So any type of donation we can get when it
comes to meat would be greatly appreciated. At this point,
we're looking for chicken, for beef, for pork, you know,
ground beef, anything that you can bring us that we
can put into our food pantry to incorporate that protein
(24:13):
and give back to families around the area would be
much appreciated. So the protein is really something that's really
important for us. We're also looking for pantry staples and
also hygiene staples. You know, there's things that you don't
really think about when you come to a food pantry
and we're handing out not just food, but also items
(24:34):
that are desperately needed for a family. Toothbrushes, also, you know,
deodorant and shower supplies, things like that are also something
that we really could use a lot of right now.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I'm sure cash would be an acceptable donation that would
give you the discretion to be able to get the
things that you need at that moment.
Speaker 4 (24:57):
Oh yes, well, never turn down a monetary donation at all.
And those are all of course write offs, so you know,
it is for tax purposes, a great way to give
back to the community and also give yourself a little
bump when it comes to tax return season.
Speaker 6 (25:10):
And you can also designate any gifts just to go
towards food. So if you put it on food at
the bottom of a checker donation or things like that,
then that's how restricted that just goes towards that so
a lot of times we can get food cheaper when
we buy it in Balk, so we'd always want donations
and things like that too, but especially with meat, it's
easier to purchase that in balk because we really can't
(25:32):
take you know, random meat donations that we have walked
through the door just because the chain of safety is
broken on that. But anything that's canned or shelf stable,
we can take donations with that too, So it's all
it all goes in to the same pile of food
to be able to go right back out and help people.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Okay, perfect, Tricia, Yes, what do you have to add?
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Well, well, this is all new to me and I
am so very excited to be a part of Scott's Run.
And maybe people don't know how long Scott's Run has
been in the community, but for over one hundred years
they've been serving people of Montingaia County and I'm just
really happy to be a part of that and be
the program coordinator. And of course you're very familiar with
Kelsey and Trey Sadderfield from Paradise Homes. They are such
(26:17):
great people here in the community and give back on
such a big way, a lot, a lot during the
year and we are getting with them. They have help,
are going to help us.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
In July.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
We are going to do our first ever Christmas in
July at Paradise Homes where we will be taking donations
and getting ready for what we expect to be a
very very busy Christmas season. We are expecting, just like
Michael mentioned, with the cuts and the other things that
are going on with the country right now, we are
expecting an even greater need for help this Christmas season,
(26:52):
so we kind of want to get a little bit
of a head start on that. So we're doing our
Christmas in July, and what we're going to be doing
is basically challenge the community here in Monongalia to help
us fill a Paradise Home with the things that we
need for Christmas. And we're doing that in a way
where each room will basically be filled with the things
that we need. We need kitchen staples, we need things
(27:14):
for toddlers, we need toys, we.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
Need things for teens.
Speaker 4 (27:17):
So we'll be doing a lot of that and then
Paradise Homes, being as great as they are for everything
that you donate, keep that receipt because they're going to
be matching that donation and giving back to Scot's Run
Settlement House as well. We are planning to do that
on July twelfth at Paradise Homes. Right now, we do
have a food truck and some other things that we
are planning for this event, but it will be July
(27:41):
twelfth at Paradise Homes at eighteen ninety four Grafton Road
in Morgantown. And you know, whether it's monetary or toys
or anything that you feel you would like to give
back to help us get ready for Christmas, we would
greatly appreciate it. And I have a feeling that I've
already reached out to the north and I've asked if
(28:01):
Santa would take a day off during summer vacation and
made me come in and see us there.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
You know, yeah, you stole my question. And since we're here,
I guess this is an opportunity for everybody in the
community to maybe be their own version.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
Of Santa exactly. And that's what we're hoping for is
you know, being in this.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
New area with Scott's Run, you do start to realize
just how many of us are struggling now, and you
know it could be your neighbor next door and you
would never know it. And that's one of the things
that I think a lot of people don't necessarily know
about organizations like Scott's Run and just how many people
do rely on us on a regular basis, or like
(28:44):
Michael said, if something does happen and you know, you
do have something happen with your car or something with
your home that kind.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
Of takes the rob to Peter to Paul have to
pay for that.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
Then you're you're missing out for your kids and your family,
and that's much needed right now.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
I think it's accurate to say that sometimes survival for
lower income families is really just kind of a game
of shuffle.
Speaker 5 (29:15):
It is in middle class even now, you know.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
I mean like that's the thing too that you start
to see with the things that are going on in
the community, is you are seeing your neighbors and you
are seeing people who maybe have never had to ask
for help before. And that's certainly a concern for us.
As we get closer to the holiday season, certainly we're.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Gonna work in a real quick break and then when
we come back, I'd like to go through the details
of Christmas in July one more time.
Speaker 5 (29:42):
If that's all right, wonderful.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Okay, perfect. It is nine forty four fifty three and
Fair Skies in the University City. We're coming back right
after this on AM fourteen forty FM one oh four
point five w A j R.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five. This is the talk of
the town.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
Oh yes it is, and it is nine forty eight.
I'm Mike Nolting right now, Fair Sky's fifty four degrees
in the University City. Don't forget about the Christmas in
July event coming up put on by a Scott's run
settlement house that's coming up on the twelfth of July,
in conjunction with Paradise Homes at eighteen ninety four Grafton Road,
(30:42):
are going to fill a Paradise home full of stuff
and then the folks at Paradise Homes are then going
to match that effort. Sounds like a great event. It's
coming up on July the twelfth. Now tell us about
senior food boxes if you would please sure we.
Speaker 6 (31:01):
Partner with the Mountaineer Food Bank to provide three hundred
boxes of food about thirty three pounds of food usually
of shell stable food to seniors every month in Mond County.
We're the largest provider in the state of that. But
it's that's one of the other programs that we partner
with the Mountaineer Food Bank with that we're to be
(31:22):
frank that we're honestly afraid may go away with funding cuts.
We don't know yet that but there's a lot of
things that are up in the air with what we do.
We also have a lot of produce we give away.
We partner with Sam's Club recent in our local area
to give out extra produce that our food pantry can't
(31:42):
get our use and it's the need for that produce
that we have out just for the community every day
of the week has continued to go up as well.
And it's you know, it's people from all walks of life,
all age groups.
Speaker 3 (31:55):
All backgrounds.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
You know, there's those that you would think that we'd
come into a food pantry a food bank for assistance
and there's those that you would never think that would
be there. So we get the whole gamut of people.
So that's why we try to have different programs that
you know, food insecurity is one of our main focuses,
but we also have other programs and we're wanting to
(32:18):
do additional programs to try to help people as much
as we can.
Speaker 2 (32:21):
Tell us about the backpack program, and then we want
Trish to address volunteers.
Speaker 6 (32:27):
Sure, so we provide backpack feeding bags to twelve different
schools in Mond County about eight hundred and fifty a week.
So we provide food that goes into those bags that
are shelf stable, lightweight for different lunches, breakfasts, and snacks.
Those go into backpacks while kids at recess or things
(32:47):
like that, and those elementary, middle schools and high schools
in the county, and we have volunteer groups that come
in and pack those and then we take those to
all the schools during the school year. Over the summer,
we'll have some of those bags available at our location
at Osage and Cheat Lake for those that may need it.
Since schools are closed, we won't be able to get
them out to the schools, but if anyone would have
(33:09):
any need for those bags, feel free to contact us
and we can.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Get those for your kiddos.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
And just like every community organization, things don't get done
unless you have volunteers.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
That is true, and we are so thankful to have
a volunteer system that is growing. And if you are
interested in doing any type of volunteering, whether it's individual volunteering,
maybe you're looking for some extra hours that do you
need to fill with school, or if you have an
organization bank, if you'd like to bring your work coworkers
(33:41):
with you and come and volunteer, we always welcome anybody
who's interested in that. If you'd like to do a
food drive for us or any volunteerism like that, we
certainly would be really thankful to have you. If you
have any interest in volunteering, you can reach out to
us at outreach at s SH dot org. That's outreach
(34:02):
atr SRSH dot org and we always welcome people if
you just want to pop by Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Speaker 5 (34:11):
We are at our Cheat Lake location.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
We also would really love volunteerism at our o Sage
building on Thursdays as well, and for those times we
usually start around nine nine thirty from nine to three
that during the week. So if you do have interest
in doing volunteerism, like Michael said, please reach out to
us and we would love to have your group come.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
In absolutely and you brought up a great point. There's
two locations.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Yes, yes, we do have Osage and cheat Lake.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
Both are very busy and we do a great job
of helping the community on each end of the county.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
And don't forget about the Christmas in July event that
is coming up on the twelfth of July. It sounds
like a great event. With Paradise Homes eighteen ninety four
Grafton Road. What they're going to do is depend on
on you to bring food donations to the Paradise Homes
location and you're going to fill up. Now are they
(35:08):
building an extra big home for the event, Well.
Speaker 4 (35:11):
We already have the home picked out and I've already
met with Kelsey and it's going to be a really
nice home that's right off of the road, so you
can just really conveniently pull in and say hi to us.
We've got some things in the planning works where we'll
have some you know, hopefully some games and then anything
that you bring, whether it's monetary or any of the
items we're looking for. We're going to be looking for
(35:33):
diapers and clothes and food and we're going to basically
do it as a challenge to fill the house in
each room. So if we have a toddler's room, we're
going to be looking for toys and things for toddlers.
For middle school will be you know a little like
coloring books and things like that that you would never
think of that are needed, especially for the Christmas holiday.
Then we're going to do that in each room household
(35:54):
items and then just challenge you.
Speaker 5 (35:55):
To see how far we can fill up that home.
Speaker 4 (35:59):
And maybe even Saya will be there to thank you
for your generous donations.
Speaker 2 (36:04):
That'll be great. Now, let's see, Scott's Run Settlement House
has more than one hundred years of history helping families
throughout the county. And of course Michael Richard just told
us that that number right now is in excess of
eleven hundred families that are receiving assistance.
Speaker 6 (36:22):
Just for our food pantry. The other programs are even
more people than that.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
All right, perfect, Well, hey really do appreciate you guys
coming in.
Speaker 5 (36:29):
Well, thank you for having us and Mike, we appreciate
it absolutely
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