This spring is special at Kump Education Center because we are celebrating our centennial year and making wonderful changes at the historic Kump house. We have many people to thank for the help they have given to make a difference at our Kump House landmark.

First, we are proud to announce that we have a $24,000 matching grant from the West Virginia Historic Preservation Office to replace two roofs on the back of the house. Our sincere thanks go to Randolph County Commissioners Kisling, See, and Siler for providing $8,000 to help us match this preservation grant.

It was so good to see the newspaper quoting what Commissioner Kesling said, “The Kump House is not only a landmark just for Elkins, but for Randolph County. We always try to help out when we can, and I love old homes and things that are historic.”

We have been working with the help of City Councilwoman Nanci Bross-Fregonara for five years to get this preservation grant, and she has also works tirelessly with the City Tree Board to make Kump Education Center a tree-friendly haven. She and Tree Board members have created a tree nursery and orchard with wire protection against the deer that will eat every leaf they can reach.

When the white fence comes down on Seneca Road, the redbud trees that Tree Board member Katy McClane planted inside the fence will be a beautiful border to the north of the property this time of year.

Under the leadership of AmeriCorps Member Kieran Adams, volunteers collected large green sacks full of debris from the wetland as part of the “WV Make It Shine” spring clean-up program. These volunteers are also working on removing invasive species and identifying native plants with the expert advice of Elizabeth Byers, Vegetation Ecologist.

Those who travel through the busy intersection near Hiawatha’s statue on South Randolph Avenue will see that lots of underbrush has been removed and more of the old fence is coming down. The young river birches, small sycamores, and willow trees are becoming green with new leaves. The Kump wooded wetland is taking on a new kind of beauty.

Many local people recall the days when three of four horses grazed in a pasture near the Kump house. Although we may miss them, we understand that time brings change. In the spring of 1925, Kump house was well under way and the eleven-acre farm was beginning to take shape in the rolling fields between Seneca Road and the railroad track. Goddin Creek meandered through the native plants that lived in that fields where horses would grazed for years.

In 1937 Gov. Kump gave permission for highway 33 to cut his farm in half because he believed that West Virginia needed good roads as well as schools. Over the years, more and more water drained into the pasture, and water eroded the land to the point that Goddin Creek floods and often fills the old pasture that is now a wetland. The past and the future come together to shape the land and all living creatures — including humans.

We cannot stop change, but we can learn how to help make it kinder to Earth and all her children.