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Elkins Main Street to honor businesses

ELKINS — An area individual and local business leaders are slated to receive awards this week for their contributions to the community.

Elkins Main Street will host its annual “Heritage and Horizon Awards” reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Graceland Inn on the campus of Davis & Elkins College.

The purpose of the awards are to “recognize two local businesses and their owners for their commitment to creating a vibrant and livable downtown Elkins,” according to Madalyn Humphrey, Elkins Main Street executive director.

The Heritage Award recipient this year is Missy Armentrout McCollam, executive director of The Old Brick Playhouse, who is being honored for her selfless contributions to downtown Elkins, including the numerous classes — such as after-school and summer camp programs — she offers to local youth as well as teaching and providing actors for events such as The Polar Express excursion trains.

“It’s an honor and a positive milestone for our organization. Many non-profits have difficulty surviving in small communities. Without our original patrons, Max and Johnnie Sue Armentrout, who took a gamble 28 years ago and helped create the organization, and without our kind, supportive community, our fantastic staff, and our impressive students, I’m not certain we would have made it either,” Armentrout said of receiving the distinction. “But positive intentions prevail.”

Third Street business S&T’s Bee’s and its owners,Tim and Stephanie Bender, are the recipients of the Horizon Award, which is meant to honor a business that has made significant recent contributions to strengthening our community’s future.

The Benders and their business are active in many downtown activities, including Santa’s Workshop, where The Polar Express visitors can make beeswax candles, handing out treats during Halloween’s downtown trick-or-treat event and much more.

They also fill their store with a wide variety or unique and home-made products, many of them themed toward the local and statewide areas.

“I was really quite proud to realize that a group of people thought that my contributions to the community were worthy of the Horizon Award, especially since all I really do is try to give back to the place I was born and raised,” Stephanie Bender said.

Both Armentrout and Bender said they believe it is important to try to make a positive impact on downtown Elkins and the community as a whole.

“Many downtowns in rural America are desolate — from the onset, The Old Brick has been dedicated to helping build a robust neighborhood, a place where our community can convene and youth can gather,” Armentrout said. “We dream of a vibrant epicenter in a vibrant town where everyone has equal value. Some consider this an antiquated ideal but according to current trends it’s revolutionary and forward-thinking.”

“I feel it’s important to take every opportunity that we have to improve things in Elkins, whether it’s picking up a piece of trash from the streets or sweeping the sidewalk of my business so that residents and visitors see that I am taking pride in our surroundings, and when residents see someone else doing it hopefully they will follow, too,” Bender added. “The more improvements we make in Elkins the more attractive it becomes to those that visit from out of town and encourages them to return — maybe considering a move to the area. Businesses looking to locate to our area really take into consideration ‘what they see,’ and we need more businesses to take Elkins to the next level.”

Armentrout said she believes The Old Brick Playhouse has contributed to downtown Elkins by offering youth a place to go and providing activities for both the youth and visitors to the area.

“First, we’ve contributed to the spirit of the place by creating a center where young people continuously come and go. To date, nearly 11,000 students have been involved in our after school and summer programming,” she said. “There’s nothing more exciting than seeing the sidewalks filled with young people. We try to fill the streets from November with The Polar Express actors passengers, and volunteers, through July with Camp Kids Playhouse. And as for the physical structure, The Old Brick Team works tirelessly to create a positive aesthetic for residents and visitors. Just maintaining older buildings is challenging– but we must all work to do so.”

From monthly activities to extensive beekeeping classes, Bender said her goal is to keep the downtown area “buzzing.”

“S & T’s Bees tries to hold at least one class or workshop per month and the reason that we do that is to get the locals moving throughout town, doing new things, meeting new people and learning something new. We constantly have people asking ‘what are we doing next?’ Bender said. “Once a year we have an extensive beekeeping class that draws around 40 individuals from around the state for the six-week course and we’ll bring those individuals back to town throughout the year for different beekeeping classes that we offer.

“We like to carry a variety of West Virginia made/grown items for the tourists. They like to take something home with them from West Virginia or Elkins,” she continued. “I’ve found that the more unusual the item is the more they like it. If it says ramps, even though they’ve never seen or tasted them, they know about them and willingly take any product that has them in it.”

Humphrey urged the public to attend and help honor this year’s award recipients. She added that Elkins Main Street is proud to host the event.

Heavy hor d’oeuvres, a champagne toast and live music will be provided for guests’ enjoyment. A cash bar will be available.

Event proceeds will benefit Elkins Main Street and support programming to grow the vibrant downtown experience and environment. The cost to attend is $50 per person. Space is limited and advance reservations are suggested. Reservations may be made at the Elkins Main Street office, 204 Davis Ave., or online at Eventbrite.com.

For more information on Elkins Main Street events and activities, or to become involved as a volunteer, call 304-637-4803 or follow Elkins Main Street on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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