Almost Heaven

During our travels over the years, we've acquired several ornaments, so when we were in West Virginia for 18 months, it stands to reason we'd find a few there. The camera really did not do any of these justice though, mostly because I couldn't find a happy medium between not enough light, and too much light.

The state bird of West Virginia is the cardinal, which is why that is on the outline of the state.

One thing WV is famous for is the art glass industry. One day we went to visit the Fenton Glass factory in the northern part of the state on the banks of the Ohio River. They were having a special exhibition there that day, so we got to go inside and watch them blow some glass pieces. Outside the factory, numerous booths were set up by independent glass artists not associated with Fenton Glass. Seeing our name tags, a man from one of these little booths called out to us and introduced himself as Ron Hinkle. He had a private studio near the town of Buckhannon. One of his specialties is these glass ornaments.

Of course, at Christmastime, Pres. Cowley wanted to give each of the missionaries a small, meaningful gift. It is hard to see, so I'm including a picture of the West Virginia quarter showing the New River Bridge.



The missionaries were each given a dime and a West Virginia quarter sealed in plastic. There was a story behind it that Pres. Cowley loved to tell. Years ago he and his wife had taught a Primary class together. They had a tradition of taking their class out for a special treat and had asked each child to bring 25¢ to help pay for the outing. At the end of one of the outings, one little girl gave him 35¢ instead. He gave her back her dime and told her it was too much, but she was quite insistent that he keep the extra money. When he asked her why she wanted to give him the extra dime, she said, "It's because I love you so much!" So all the missionaries knew that the ornament made out of 35¢ was because Pres. Cowley loved them so much.