Judy P. Byers

As part of the Grand Opening Year events at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College, a book signing is offered on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Through a donation by a couple with many ties to Fairmont State University, future scholars and students of West Virginia and Appalachian literature and history will have a new tool to aid their research.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) designated Dr. Judy P. Byers and Noel W. Tenney as ARC Appalachian Teaching Fellows for the 2010-2011 academic year.  These two individuals are jointly responsible for administering the Appalachian Teaching Project (ATP) on the campus of Fairmont State University.

In December 2010 in Washington, D.C, Fairmont State University students presented their research on the coal history of the town of Monongah and a proposed coal interpretive center that will explore the historical and ethnic culture and community.

The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is sponsoring a study and travel abroad program in the summer of 2011 called Roads to Appalachia through Belgium and the Germanic Roots of Western Germany and Northern Switzerland. The trip will explore our region’s connections to these root areas.

Fairmont Forward: A Ribbon Cutting Gala will celebrate the completion of the first floor of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28. As part of the celebration, the B.B. Maurer Folklife Scholar Award and the Traditions Salute Award will be presented.

Fairmont Forward: A Ribbon Cutting Gala will celebrate the completion of the first floor of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28.

Twenty-two Italian high school students will participate in "Mountains to Mountains from La Sila to Appalachia" Italian to American Cultural Camp this summer on the shared main campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College.

The new edition of "Traditions: A Journal of West Virginia Folk Culture and Educational Awareness" focuses on the "Roads to Appalachia" Study and Travel Abroad Program.