This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the June 3, 2010 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            Do miracles still happen?  Of course they do!  I mentioned last week the problems at the Adams Cemetery near Falcon where giant white pine trees had uprooted during the great ice storm of last year.  Wilma Lemaster Rimer’s parents are buried in this cemetery and one of the pine trees had fallen near their graves leaving a twenty-foot high root system overshadowing their graves.  Wilma was contemplating moving the graves to another cemetery.  I had started trying to saw up the root system and messed up my saw because of the dirt still on the roots. 

            The week before Memorial Day I took Wilma up to decorate the gravesites and started sawing again. As luck would have it, Jack Brown was there and he and a couple of helpers were cleaning and burning other fallen tree limbs, etc.  As mentioned last week Jack and I both tried to cut the fallen tree off near its root system. Jack suggested getting a backhoe to tip the tree root up and set it on its original pad.

            A few days later, Wilma and I went back to the cemetery and found the great tree stump on its pad and I remarked that Jack must have gotten the job done.  I wondered how as there was no sign of any machinery having been there.  It had rained and apparently softened the dirt and that huge stump had reset itself on its own pad!  I started sawing more roots off and got them over the fence.  The cemetery is in a respectable condition and now the root stump should rot away.

            It is not a good idea to have white pines in or near your home or a cemetery.

            I attended the Licking Valley Rural Electric “Shindig” in Morgan County recently and I sort of compared it to our Founders Days here in Magoffin County.  They had several acres of well-mowed land for parking and many red-shirted employees supervising the parking.  They had a monster stage, well lighted and decorated with a superior speaker system and a great master of ceremonies. They had some outstanding entertainment along with a Miss Licking Valley Pageant. I was thrilled to see my buddy Dale Minix’s daughter place in the finale.

            Down through the last 31 years our historical society has attempted to “put on the show” with a very limited tight budget. Our pageants last until midnight or later while I got home from Morgan County before dark.

            We have no employees; we volunteer our time and also have out of state visitors who come and help.  I still think we have accomplished a great deal with our Founders Days program which has helped many of our young people toward becoming the leaders of our tomorrows.

            I’ve spent many hours, actually days, in trying to get rid of the maple tree seeds or “whirlybirds” that filled our log cabin gutters and got into every nook and cranny on the grounds.  It seems we had a record crop this year.  Now I’m cleaning the log homes as our town has had some new water lines installed and a dust storm ensues whenever a big truck whizzes by. I’ve made some progress with the cleaning, even took time out to clean up my family cemeteries, four in Paintsville and some here at the home-twenty.

            Now we have reached the month of June and it’s the half-way mark of our Sesquicentennial or 150^th birthday of Magoffin County.  Plans have been made for more celebrations to be held throughout the rest of the year. In fact by the time you read this, the Maypole Dance will be over as well as the ice cream social. It is the first Maypole Dance in several years and the ice cream social may be a first for our county!

            The Sesquicentennial will all be over come January 1, 2011 so don’t wait!  Get your pictures, stories and info in for the Magoffin County book now!  Also, a time capsule is being planned for December. What are some suggestions as to what might be put into this capsule?  Watch for the coming events, participate and enjoy them with your family.

            As promised, this is an update on material received for the Sesquicentennial book: BUSINESSES: Allen & Byrd Law Office, Martin’s Department Store, Salyersville National Bank. We need stories with pictures on past and present businesses of Magoffin County. CHURCHES: Bethel Bible Church, Burning Springs Church, Cow Creek Church of God, Lake Front Church of God, Litteral Fork Church, Litteral Fork United Baptist Church, Prater Memorial Methodist Church, Salyersville Christian Church, Salyersville First Baptist Church, State Road United Baptist Church, Stinson Church, Tip Top Church. There are many more churches in Magoffin County and we hope to receive their stories.  CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS & SERVICES: Local Fire Departments and Rescue Squad articles by Alton Huff (need pictures), Magoffin County Extension Office Agents & Employees, REACH Program.  We are working on Doctors, Dentists, Medical People & Places in Magoffin County (past and present) but need material and pictures. COMMUNITIES: Johnsons Fork by Betty Lykins, Tip Top by Charlotte Gillum, Howard’s Branch by Arthur J. Hale. Some communities are also included in the individual stories but many more are needed.  EVENTS: 1914 Memorial Meetings by Lillie Patrick Preston, Centennial Memories (and other historical articles) by Jimmie Allen, Family and Civil War by Edward Dotson, Magoffin First Century Participation by Wanda Collier Patton, May Pole Dance Pictures from Sam Salyer and Stella Prater, Montgomery Cane Mill by Willie & Nellie Montgomery. We hope this sampling will give you an idea of something to write for the book.  INDIVIDUAL STORIES: Back & Jackson Family by J. W. Back, Bessie & McKinley Whitaker by Dave Patrick, Jr., Buck Creek & Bailey Family by Pearlie Whitaker Patrick, Clyde & Daisy Holliday by Scotty Holliday, Corp. Riley Howard by Mary Etta Hoskins, Country Store by Danny Castle, Dave Patrick, Sr. and Royalton Stories by Dave Patrick, Jr., Dawson/Arnett-Patrick/Slusher Family by Katrina DeKoff, Dona Arnett by Katrina DeKoff, Dr. Walter C. Connelley Family Stories by Theda Watkins and Vera Stamper, Ezra Wireman Family by Dortha Jean Wireman, Gracie Arnett-Church Organist by Jeff Arnett, Green & Nora Carpenter by Willie Shepherd’s daughters, Growing Up on Rt. 7 by Bessie Wireman, Gun Creek Life Stories by Myrtle Fletcher Cole and Karen Fletcher Merritt, James Culbertson by Marjorie Culbertson, Johnny & Eulah Back by Martha A. Back, Logan & Belle Marshall by Bernice Moore, Maxie Hale Tackett of Litteral’s Fork, Mountain Horses by B. David May, My School Years and Teachers by Kay Bentley, Nora Spradlin Marshall Poe by Bernice Moore and Cora Sue Patrick, Norman & Julia Dotson by Bernice Moore, Oil Fields by Carter Conley, Railroad Memories of Oakley Creek by Jean Owens Arnett and Rotha Owens Allen, Rousseau Patrick by Lillie Patrick Preston, Samuel May & Archibald Prater by Rhoda Renzleman, Stinson Church Memories by Minnie Puckett Patrick, Tony Williams by Phyllis Salyer, Virginia Prater by Vera Stamper, W. W. Preston-Thomas H. & Lillie Preston by Mary Lou Brown Byrd, William Elsey Connelley by Vera Stamper and Jimmie Allen, Wireman/Auxier Family of Trace Fork & Puncheon by Patty Auxier, Goldie Wireman Shepherd’s Memories.

            We also have stories of the Puncheon Creek area by Virginia Allen Parker and some pictures from Avonell Bailey. Phillip Howard of Corbin, KY is working on a story about Ivyton.  Kay Bentley has taken pictures of several of her area churches.  I have also contributed several stories of events and people from my life.

            You are invited to send in your contributions to this book – remember that everyone has a story that needs to be in print.  Several people have notified us that they will be sending material and we hope to receive that in the near future.