A Little Bit of Home At James Island County Park

Last Saturday the borders and boundaries of the State of West Virginia were re-drawn and expanded to include a couple of acres surrounding the Wando picnic and party pavillion at the James Island County Park in Charleston, South Carolina. Various recorded versions of Country Roads echoed throughout the park, fan favorites from The Pride of West Virginia (The Mountaineer Marching Band) blared from the speakers and the names of Oliver Luck, Bob Huggins, Bill Stewart and Dana Holgorsen dropped into conversations so easily you could almost picture them mingling throughout the crowd of Mountaineer Alumni and friends. Blue and gold were the predominant colors for the day and the flying WV logo was everywhere.

The Lowcountry Chapter of the West Virginia University Alumni Association was gathered for it's annual BBQ Bash and Pepperoni Roll Cookoff at the park. South Carolina, and particularly the Lowcountry is now home to a rather large contingent of WVU Alums, so large a group that sometimes it is joked that South Carolina is the largest county of West Virginia. It is nearly impossible to leave your house and drive five miles without seeing a car or two with the familiar flying WV logo. I often throw on a WV ballcap for trips to the mall or grocery store, and invariably I will walk past somebody who will say, "Let's Go Mountaineers." Strangely enough, there were even some Virginia Tech Hokie fans in attendance, I guess since they copied the flying WV logo and modified it for their own VT logo they might as well crash our parties.

Saturday's event was a blast, there were games and a jump castle for the future Mountaineers in the crowd, while several alums and friends worked out challenges and death matches of cornhole while enjoying the music provided by "Dem Taylor Boys." The music and games, food and fun all contributed to a "tailgate party" atmosphere that made for a great afternoon under the blue skies of the Lowcountry. The chapter hosted a raffle with some great WVU fan items, a few things on the table even made it home with us. The conversation and commraderie was copious and seemed to be tinged with optimism for the upcoming football season. The Spring scrimmage game has provided us all with a teaser of the new WV offense and what is to come in future seasons when Head Coach in Waiting Dana Holgorsen takes the helm.

Often times when I talk with friends and family members back in West Virginia they will ask me, "don't you miss your home state?" It's odd because I do miss the beauty of the mountains, and I certainly miss being closer to my sister and her family as well as some really great friends, but Charleston feels very much like home now and it sure does remind one just how small our world truly is to share our new home with so many people from our home state and alma mater.