Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 22, 1994 TAG: 9403220162
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Robert Freis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The answer is Tazewell County. Cheryl intrigues fellow Virginia Tech students because of her accent. She's still a curiosity, even after two years at the school.
Evidently fellow Hokies have never heard anyone who speaks like Cheryl - which is odd, considering Virginia Tech's site on a Western Virginia mountain plateau.
But that's the way it goes here in Appalachia, land of contradictions.
Appalachia? Here? Home of the "Beverly Hillbillies," "Deliverance" and Elwood Gallimore? Dare I suggest that the New River Valley is part of that?
Well, yes and no.
Yes, we have mountains and rural areas occupied by country folk, some of whom once earned a living by mining. We have a stock car speedway, a big national forest and lengthy coal trains that snake along the New River.
No, this is not Lil' Abner's Dog Patch. The persistent image of Appalachia as an American third world populated by incestuous, idle half-wits can't get on line with the reality of our Electronic Village.
So we're in Appalachia and yet we're not, depending on the definition of what Appalachia is.
Cheryl inspired me to think about that issue earlier this month when she spoke at the Appalachian Studies Conference, held at Virginia Tech.
Scholars, authors and activists, from across the region and across America, gathered in Blacksburg for their annual intellectual hoe-down.
They discussed a variety of topics: health, history, culture, politics, music, literature and art - all pertaining to Appalachia.
In their voices you heard pride, devotion and frustration. Cheryl said she's glad to be an Appalachian. But she's weary of people who assume that anyone who grows up here or chooses to live in the region must resemble Sadie Hawkins, Ernest T. Bass, Davy Crockett or Ma Kettle.
Jean Haskell Speer echoed that sentiment. Formerly a faculty member at Virginia Tech, she now directs the Center for Appalachian Studies at East Tennessee State University.
Recently Spear read a story in USA Today that talked about the "despair of hopelessness" of Appalachia. "I cringed," she said. It's not the first time - nor will it be the last - she's seen the region tarred with that thread-bare brush.
Identity and its positive and negative elements is a thorny question when it comes to Appalachia. About the only thing everyone seems to agree upon is that you conjure up some strong feelings whenever you utter the region's name.
That makes Appalachia a deep well to toss a bucket into. Considering all the enthusiastic folks who attended the conference, the study of Appalachia is a vigorous growth industry.
At one point during the conference, as Rep. Rick Boucher spoke about the regional advances of telecommunications, a band in a nearby auditorium broke into a raucous version of "I Saw The Light."
There were other contrasts. Some in attendance saw controversial public works projects such as Interstate 73 or the new Appalachian Power Co. power line as inevitable and commendable soldiers of progress. Others fervently believe both will violently assault Appalachia's precious and oft-exploited natural resources.
One word people spoke in unison was "network." The way to a better Appalachia is to establish communication links both within and outside the region, they said. That way, Appalachians will come to understand one another and convey a more accurate image of what the region is really like.
Jimmie Lee Price began a gratifying local example of that kind of progress recently. Price, co-chairman of the new local committee to commemorate Montgomery County's coal mining history, talked to Virginia Tech professor Elizabeth Fine, who heads Tech's Appalachian Studies program, about working together.
It would be great for our community if the Appalachian Studies programs at Tech and at Radford University would join hands with the ex-miners and their kinfolk who serve on the local committee. These groups have much to share.
That kind of education, said Cheryl Cole, is the key to Appalachian's future. Study the region, past, present and future. Chip away the misconceptions, and build on what you learn.
After all, every diamond began its journey to be a gem as a lump of coal.
by CNB