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Tale of Two Towns Continues

Last week my column told how Elkins and Richwood were important towns to my family a hundred years ago. This week the focus is updated from the significance of timber to the importance of tourism in the Monongahela National Forest. Today the glorious forest region attracts both artists and tourists. The natural beauty and botanical diversity of our Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area (AFNHA) is helping to give wider recognition to nine towns in the Mon Forest Towns Partnership (MFTP). This national heritage area includes nine Mon Forest towns: Cowen, Davis, Durbin, Elkins, ...

Reducing anxiety: Improving customer experience

Anxiety is a normal human condition. We feel it in the form of worry, nervousness, or discomfort about a situation that may involve uncertainty, danger, or an anticipated future event. At times, anxiety in moderation is helpful. It can improve performance, motivate us to act, spur us on to solve problems, and alert us to potential threats.  When anxiety stops being occasional and becomes constant, it stops helping and starts working against us. That’s where I find myself. I must constantly rewire my thinking. I tend to project worst-case scenarios. For me, this thought pattern came ...

Needing the spirit to be free

In 1904, Lincoln Steffens published a series of essays entitled “The Shame of the Cities,” which inveighed against the "boss". But he added a spin by linking businessmen to political corruption and indeed saw them as the chief promoters. Steffens said it straight and true: "because politics is business. That's what's the matter with everything." It was not the tawdry actions of a few political hacks but "respectable" business types that tolerated dishonest government. Certainly, the administration of Donald Trump reflects the primacy of corporate supremacy over politics. Everything ...

Tale of Two Towns in the Mon Forest

In 1890 the town of Elkins was incorporated with the name of Senator Elkins, son-in-law of Senator Davis who brought the railroad from Maryland to help remove timber and coal from these mountains. In 1900 New York developers established the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company in the town of Richwood. The lumber company also brought in train services to ship out the timber. Elkins and Richwood are not great cities like London and Paris, but they have greater significance in my life than the two places Charles Dickens wrote about in his A Tale of Two Cities. Richwood boy, Don Roberts ...

Some Lessons Are Worth Repeating

When one writes hundreds of columns, certain themes show up over and over. A reason is that there are areas in leadership in which people consistently struggle to achieve and sustain great results.  Plus, there are new leaders. Close to half the people in a supervisory role are either new to leadership or are in a new supervisory role or a new organization.  I benefit from repetition and reminders. I hear or read something that jogs the memory and gets me back on track. When the student is ready the teacher appears.  For these reasons it makes sense to revisit key areas in these ...

Obsessed with appearances, not results

Jed Clampett, when shocked by Jethro's behavior or lack of discernment, moaned, "One day I'm going to have a long talk with that boy." White House aides must be having that same thought after Donald Trump's "address" to the nation. Instead of talking about the economy or Iran, the President focused on a non-existent election "crisis" which he failed to explain. Instead of making America great again, he turned MAGA into Make America Gripe Again. No one wanted to hear it. Even Fox was reduced to analyzing highlights rather than covering a speech that they believed was suspect in its ...