Fishing, 4-H Camp, & Music: 1973-75

By Deborah Stiles Parsons, West Virginia
Traveling through Braxton County in March, I stopped as usual to get a bite at the Custard Stand, fill up my truck with gas, and pick up the local papers. Though I spent just two years of my childhood in Braxton County–seventh grade in Sutton, and eighth grade, in Gassaway–they were pivotal years in my growing up, so my fondness for Braxton County, even though fifty years (!) have passed by, remains strong to this day.
The wonderful pieces by Joseph J. Mazzella and Jeanette Riffle in the March 28th issue of the Braxton Democrat-Central prompted me to write this memory of 1973-75, the years my family spent in Braxton County. My Dad, Jim Stiles, served briefly as county extension agent before he moved us back to his home county of Tucker, where he bought his parents’ farm, the farm my sister and I own now.
Moving to Sutton first, we were in a big old house that was so big I got to have my own room–every teenager’s dream when you’re part of a big family! I missed our little farm in Tyler County, but I can still recall falling in love with the beautiful blue hydrangeas in the front yard of the house. The house sat within walking distance of the dam. That closeness to water meant that whenever I wished, I could go fishing–one of my first and still favorite pastimes. Because I was old enough (and, I guess, pestered Dad enough by constantly borrowing and reading his Sports Afield magazines!) Dad would drop me off at the 4-H camp so that I could while away a summer’s day catching bluegills, which, of course, I dutifully cleaned and fried up for the family when we got home.
I have many wonderful memories of both Sutton and Gassaway–friendships, 4-H camp, band rehearsals, so many that I think I’ll need to write another piece! But I wanted to close with the other wonderful thing that happened in Braxton County: I got to take piano lessons with Mrs. Walker of Strange Creek. Through those lessons, I began a lifetime of playing for church congregations. Still to this day I can play Bob Dylan’s “Blowin in the Wind” from memory, as it was one of the first pieces she taught me. She and the band directors in the county nurtured my love for music and the arts, something that, along with my love of agriculture nurtured by my Dad, 4-H leaders throughout the state, and my vo-ag teacher in Tucker county…well, it’s all shaped my entire life, and in beautiful, life-sustaining ways.