Life from the eyes of a West Virginia “Hollow Dweller” (Part 2: The Vibrant 90's)

Finally, here we are. The part of the story where your friendly neighborhood narrator makes an appearance. Allow me the pleasure of setting the scene for you. Picture it, West Virginia, 1994. You’re probably driving home from watching Robin William’s absolutely kill it in “Mrs. Doubtfire” while listening to “The Sign” by Ace Of Base with the windows down. Life has never been better. Also, don’t lie, you now have “The Sign” playing in your head. You’re welcome. That was a bold scene I set, truth be told I never got to do that. Mainly because I was an infant and wouldn’t gain consciousness till one random day when I was three years old.

If you remember, I talked a lot last time about what brought me into the holler. Having been birthed into the world by what was the last generation to truly experience that strong bond that came with living in a “company town”. Even though by the time I came along, the company grip on the community was greatly loosened, if not even existent at all. By this time most people owned their homes, their land, even several businesses which still kept the desire to leave the holler as an unnecessary trip. Of course, my forthcoming was not the destruction of these businesses, it was just a sign of the times. Most of the jobs inside the holler where dwindling as people were moving off, or getting jobs outside the holler that paid better and that’s where they spent their time and disposable income. The coal companies really did an amazing thing from the standpoint of a self-sustained economy. Now don’t take that as me praising them, as I still truly believe they did a lot of people dirty in a lot of different ways. Simply looking at it as a man who has the ability to look at it objectively, it really is impressive. It does however show that the crux of this sustainability was being trapped. You’ll remember that for a large portion, cars weren’t common amongst these company families, the company store was implemented to make sure you never had to leave and could really only afford to shop there. So now, after about the 1960’s when more people started leaving the holler more, seeking their fortune and gaining the ability to afford to shop outside their small holler communities, that’s where the downfall began. Now, the self-sustaining economy was collapsing, but the community aspect was stronger than ever before, at least for a bit. Now follow me as we head..

So, I think it’s important I explain as to why this all interests me in the first place. See, when I was growing up, I always heard these stories about when my parents and grandparents were growing up. I was fascinated by how, up my little holler, there was a bustling town. As far as what I knew, driving up the holler, I just saw houses. Even today, you can drive up there and see nothing but where people lived. It shocks you to hear about where schools were, where stores were. You can kind of see the community aspect as a lot of people still live clustered together. After all, a community really is made up of the people. Still though, as I have a small passion for history, I feel sad because when the stories are gone then so is the knowledge. As I have already stated, there really isn’t anything physical left of these places. I suppose there are pictures and that can help some, but I still think it’d have been nice to be able to go through some of these old communities and physically see with your own eyes, just where things were laid out.

Growing up for me was honestly a blast in most parts. I was lucky and got to experience a little taste of the community lifestyle, as I lived on connected properties with my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. I was the first born to my parents, so for the first couple of years I just had my cousin and another aunt who were a few years older than me to hang around with. I always considered them more like siblings than their own titles. We played together, annoyed together and got to experience life together. My cousin was always a big sports guy, always wanting to play some basketball or baseball, but most of the time I wouldn’t. Not because there was anything wrong with it, I am what some might refer to as a “sedentary person”. I can’t help that though, I was always drawn to Saturday Morning Cartoons and cereal, it’s a weakness. My aunt was a cheerleader and always bringing friends home with her. So they always wanted me around to do funny kid stuff. I think that might be where I learned that I like to make people happy and keep them laughing. I did typical kid stuff growing up. Played outside, played video games, read and watch television. I even developed friendships with a couple kids who lived around me who were not my family.

See the thing of it is though is that you could tell that there indeed was this shift in community. See where I lived was closer to the mouth of the holler as opposed to farther in where all my family had lived prior. I enjoyed my childhood for the most part, but to hear all these stories, about how my dad had groups of friends all nearby growing up, it was tough. I had a good amount of friends all through school, but that's where they stayed. Even though we all lived in the same holler, we were all spread out too far apart in it to do anything together. Granted also, there wouldn’t have been much to do, as again these stores and businesses were gone. We still could’ve formed stronger bonds though, stronger than the ones we were presented with. I know I’m not alone in thinking this, as my family can’t be the only one who comes from that era, who brings up stories. I think the biggest thing I want people to take away from this series is just how important a sense of community is. How even as a kid, you’re able to listen to something and piece together that you’re missing out on something that was importantly fundamental to your elders when they were your age. I think now, more than ever, that sense needs to come back. The dangers on the streets in any of these given neighborhoods is a lot stronger of a presence than it ever has been, so keeping your friends closer than we have in recent years seems all the more paramount.

I’ll see you in the next part…