Personal Challenge 2018 - Week 35

NOTE: This is my second blog post of the day. If you're interested in seeing my Challenge Your Stash card, either keep scrolling (it's the next blog post), or go HERE.


This is the 35th week of my personal 50-week States of the Union Challenge. Each week I research one of the 50 United States (in the order they attained statehood). I share tidbits of information about the state here on my blog and I create a card that is inspired by something about that state.

This week's state (the 35th one to attain statehood) is...

West Virginia

Date of Statehood: June 20, 1863

West Virginia is considered the southern most northern state and the northern most southern state.

West Virginia's nickname is the Mountain State and its motto is "Mountaineers Are Always Free."

West Virginia is the second-largest coal producing state in the United States (Wyoming is the largest coal producing state).

75% of the total area of this state is covered by forests.

The idea of outdoor advertising was born in West Virginia when a tobacco company began placing written advertisements on the sides of barns.

West Virginia has the oldest population of any state. The median age is 40.

A massive underground fallout shelter was built in the 1950s beneath the popular hot springs resort for the U. S. Congress in case of nuclear attack. The bunker could accommodate over 1,000 people for at least 60 days. That part of the resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, is now open for public tours. 

At more than 3000 feet long, the New River Gorge Bridge, located in Fayette County, is the longest steel-span bridge in the Western hemisphere. It’s also one of the highest bridges in the country, making it a magnet for BASE jumpers, who flock to it every third Saturday in October —the one day of the year when they’re allowed to jump.

In 1949 the citizens of Mole Hill, West Virginia collectively decided to change the name of the town to “Mountain” and successfully made 'Mountain' out of the Mole Hill. Now the town is known as Mountain, West Virginia.

The first brick street in the world was laid in Charleston, West Virginia, on October 23, 1870.

Weirton West Virginia is the only city in the U.S. that extends from one state border to another.

The 1500 Block of Virginia Street in Charleston is considered the longest city block in the world.

The 500-acre federal women's prison known as Federal Industrial Institution for Women in Alderson, West Virginia, opened in 1926, and was the first prison to house female inmates. Most of the residents were serving more than one year for drug and alcohol crimes during Prohibition (1920-33).

At 485 feet high and with a dish that spans 2.3 acres, the Green Bank Telescope, located in southeastern West Virginia, is the largest fully steerable telescope in the world.

One of the first suspension bridges in the world was completed in Wheeling in November 1849.

On September 10, 1938, the Mingo Oak, largest and oldest white oak tree in the United States, was declared dead and felled with ceremony.

One of the largest family reunions in the world takes place every summer in the town of Flat Top. That’s when around 2500 members of the Lilly clan get together, along with a few hundred non-family members.

On the National Register of Historic Places the world famous Coal House was built in 1933 as a result of an idea by O.W. Evans, then manager of the N & W Railways Fuel Department. By using 65 tons of coal from the multi-million dollar seams surrounding this bustling southern West Virginia town. The Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce & Williamson Convention and Visitors Bureau are housed in the world famous Coal House.

The last surviving U.S. World War I veteran, Frank Buckles, lived on a farm near Charleston until his death in 2011, at 110 years old. Buckles had lied about his age when he enlisted as a 16-year-old, and spent the duration of the war as an ambulance driver on the Western front. When asked how it felt to be last of the nearly 5 million American soldiers who fought in the conflict, Buckles said, “I knew there’d be only one someday. I didn’t think it would be me.”

The first Mother’s Day celebration took place in 1908 in Grafton, West Virginia. The founder, Anna Jarvis, started it in honor of her own recently deceased mother, and meant it to be a humble day of remembrance. 

Here are some West Virginia laws...

When a railroad passes within 1 mile of a community of 100 or more people in it, they must build a station and stop there regularly to pick up and drop off passengers.

Whistling underwater is prohibited.

It is against the law to snooze on a train.

For each act of public swearing a person shall be fined one dollar.

Although it was repealed in 2010, the law used to say a person should be placed in jail for up to six months for making fun of someone who does not accept a challenge.

If you live in the tiny mountain town of Alderson, West Virginia, you will have to keep your lion, tiger, or other large feline on a leash when you go for a walk. This is the only known law of its kind in the world. 

In Huntington, it is against the law to beat your wife so long as it is done in public on Sunday, on the courthouse steps.

No member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit during a church service in Nicholas County.

I decided to go with this bit of West Virginia information for my card's inspiration... Due to its mountain setting, the temperature rarely tops 90 degrees here even on the hottest summer days. But when it does, Bluefield’s Chamber of Commerce provides free lemonade to all the townsfolk!

If life gives you lemons,

Smile and make lemonade!

Here's the inside of my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Supplies Used

Stamps: Sparkle Creations Lemonade Ruby and Stampabilities Sending Happy Thoughts stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Dies: Nestablilties Circles

Papers: Recollections 110# White and SU Bordering Blue and Early Espresso CS and Paper Studio Tiny Yellow Polka Dot DP and other DP from my scrap file

Embellishments: Gina Marie Enamel Dots