FLASHBACK: "I FELL IN LOVE WITH CALHOUN COUNTY" - Totten's Connected To River Farm

(12/10/2023)
Kyle Hugh "Pop" Totten, 87, a veteran of World War II, died in 2015 and his wife has passed

The Totten's - (L to R) Kyle Totten III, Kyle Totten II (Weston's new City Manager) and the elder Kyle Totten

By Bob Weaver 2001

Kyle Totten II, 47, has spent much of his life along the banks of the Little Kanawha as a young man, catching catfish, hunting varmints and enjoying the solitude of the old Rose farm on Owens Run. "It has meant a lot to me then and now, coming here in later years to be with my dad and mom."

The former banker recalled his Calhoun connection last week when he was hired as Weston's first city manager.

Kyle's dad said "I fell in love with Calhoun in 1948, when I came up here from Charleston to find a burial spot for my father-in-law, George Blankenship of Creston.

The elder Totten gave a long list of local folks he met in those early days "coming to the country for weekends" from his job at Ford Motor Company. He first started retreating at a house owned by his in-laws at Big Bend, and then purchased the Archie Rose place in 1968 on Owen's Road, which is about two miles from Munday Road.

Kyle Sr. and wife Charlotte enjoy riverside home

He calls it a camp, but it is really a warm and comfortable home, well kept by his wife Charlotte.

"We really liked living along the river and there's lots of woods," said the elder Totten. "It was a great place for our family, and now they are bringing their children and friends. We are great outdoors people." The house is situated beside a large farm pond, and across the river is the vast Westvaco holdings, nearby are several outbuildings, a barn and green bottom land.

Kyle Totten II has a vision for the City of Weston

Kyle Totten II worked for Bank One in Clarksburg for 24 years. "I was with the bank for a long time. It's quite a move for me leaving my comfort zone with them, but I felt I had to take on something else," like becoming a city manager. Totten has taken advanced courses in economic development from Western Michigan University and the University of Oklahoma.

He said being manager of Weston is like being a CEO of the county's largest corporation. "Mayor Tucci and council will serve as the board of directors, and I will work to enforce their new policies and directives. It will only work if we take care of our customers - the citizens of Weston," he said.

The elder Totten said he was delighted to have a visit from The Hur Herald. "Charlotte just got her a computer to get the news," he said.

Kyle III displays rattlesnake hide

Outbuilding has deer heads, snapping turtle shells and catfish heads