| By Alvin Engelke
 By Alvin Engelke
alvinengelke@hotmail.com
The big Creston ATV poker run will start with signups at 9 A. M. on Saturday, April 15. Folks from various sections have been talking about how many are coming from their areas so a great time should be had by all. Breakfast will be served to early arrivals for the poker run. After the run one can motor on up the West Fork to the big ramp dinner at the Upper West Fork Park.
There will be an Easter Sunrise service at the Burning Springs M. E. church on Easter Sunday, April 16. A hearty breakfast will be served and all are welcome. Rev. Juanita Lockhart and a representative of the Parkersburg Gideon camp were at the Burning Springs M.E. church. The Hurst family, Steve & Juanita provided special music.
Alvin Wiles, age 78, who had been on the mend took a turn for the worse and passed away. He had worked as an oilfield pumper and formerly hauled the children who lived on the Richardsonville road down to catch the school bus. Burial will be on Stemple Ridge near St. George.
Butch Goodnight was calling on C. Glen Arthur who is scheduled for eye surgery.
Florence Sandy reported that Frank is doing much better than he had been some time back. The Sandys now live in Spencer.
On Saturday evening the mercury dropped down in the 20s but peach trees, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, spring beauties, etc are in their glory and termites have started to swarm. Also the tent caterpillars have built their webs and are eating the flowers and leaves on fruit trees. The government's Asiatic beetles (that look like ladybugs) are now getting restless and trying to get out of the homes that they commandeered for the winter. Luckily several of them died although, no doubt, the survivors will breed extra to make up for the ones that perished.
With the high price of scrap metal (junk) there has been a lot of cleanup of dumps where trash was thrown. One 100% disabled fellow was seen hauling appliances up a very steep road bank. It is amazing how easy some folks can "get healed" when it is financially remunerative.
Representatives of Microdata, the Vermont outfit that fouled up the 911 stuff for Wirt County have been seen going around looking at houses between Creston and Annamoriah in Calhoun County.
Reflecting the economic miracle that covers most of the nation and the resultant record low unemployment, Miller's Lumber & Pallet has a contract to saw 4 million board feet of lumber for Burke, Parson, Bowlby Corp of Billings. Dean Miller has been looking for men who are willing to work on a modern sawmill. Large loads of logs are seen going both up and down W. Va. 5 to various locations both in the nation and abroad.
Things seem to be doing well also in Washington, Dee Cee. One of the state's congressmen who has Calhoun connections & relatives who live in the Creston area was able to purchase a $1.5 million home in North Carolina as a place to go to relieve the stress of governance.
The price of local Penn grade crude dropped 50 cents on Saturday to $63.50/bbl. Dominion (Mother Hope) had a partial shutdown of the Hastings extraction station but all is now back up and running. Ted the Gas Typhoon reported that in southern West Virginia large numbers of gas wells are shut in by the gas transmission line owners. Also it was reported that those who used to brag about stealing other people's crude oil (before they became rich and famous) are back at it again. "Well, we just topped out the load on our way back to the shop."
East Resources which acquired many of the old South Penn (Pennzoil) leases that were a key part of the Rockefeller family fortune, sold natural gas in Roane County for $24.36/MCF (thousand cubic feet) recently. However, that price was not available to others, try as they might.
Paul Edward Graham and Robert L. Phillips were both calling at the residence of Charles & Euell Russell.
Nancy Engelke can now see without her spectacles with both eyes after her surgery. She will need to get reading glasses to do computer work, etc.
Local residents continue to receive pre approved credit card applications for folks who are long gone and in the last two cases never lived or visited in Creston.
House of Delegates candidate Arley Parker was attending to business in Creston.
The withdrawal of one of the original partners in Chesapeake Appalachia has some folks concerned. As one oil and gas tycoon said, "Why would a man sell out of a deal that is going to make piles & piles of money?" He has concern that Chesapeake will be another Enron. Enron transferred their assets and now EOG [Enron Oil & Gas] is a big player and Rubin, the former Clinton Treasury secretary still draws his $1 million annual retainer from Enron's main New York bank. In Wirt County there were never any documents recorded showing any change in ownership, bankruptcy, etc.
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