The English bulldog had never featured prominently in West Virginia history. It has now. Gov. Jim Justice’s 4-year-old pure breed Babydog joined the ranks of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War soldiers, and odes to Appalachian folk music in new murals under the golden dome of the state Capitol last week, alongside other state cultural symbols. Tucked into a mural about artistic traditions, the AP reports the dog sits placidly between a banjo player and an artist painting the Seneca Rocks, one of the state’s best-known natural landmarks, in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest.

Babydog made another memorable appearance at the Capitol in 2022, when the governor hoisted her up during his State of the State address and pointed her rear end at the camera. Days earlier, singer and actress Bette Midler, on what was then Twitter, had called West Virginians “poor, illiterate and strung out” after West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin refused to support a bill promoted by President Biden and Democrats in Congress. “Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her heinie,” Justice said to a standing ovation.

Justice, a Republican now running to succeed Manchin, has made Babydog a minor celebrity in West Virginia during his two terms as governor. The star of the governor’s “Do it for Babydog” COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the dog was a gift from Justice’s children in 2019. Referring to her lovingly as a “60-pound brown watermelon,” Justice has taken the dog on gubernatorial trips across the state ever since. So far, Justice has been playing innocent about Babydog’s appearance in the murals, which were commissioned as part of an effort to finish work inside the Capitol that stopped during the Great Depression. “I was just as surprised, in my ways, as anyone,” he said Wednesday.

Justice said a committee led by Randall Reid-Smith, secretary of the Department of Arts, Culture and History, made the call. The tiny image of the dog was not included in initial designs shared with the public, nor was it mentioned at the dedication, which Babydog did attend. It was not until afterward that people started noticing the bulldog in shots of the murals shared on social media. And there was not much debate about whose dog it was. Reid-Smith said at a news briefing this past week that he had been working for years to get a governor to invest in completing the nearly 100-year-old vision and that Justice was the one who finally made it happen. So far almost $350,000 in state money has been paid to Connecticut-based installers John Canning & Co. for the first four murals, with four more scheduled to be installed this fall. (Read more on the dog here.)

LEWISBURG, WV (WVNS)– This weekend was the last chance to check out the West Virginia Renaissance Festival for some fun adventure.

The festival began in early June, but the last chance to experience it was this weekend on Saturday, June 29, 2024, and Sunday, June 30, 2024.  The theme for this weekend in particular was Time Travelers. 

From costume contests, live music, delicious food and drinks; all the way to sword fighting, comedy shows, and jousting- the festival had it all. 

One thing you may have had the chance to see while there was the comedy act from the Sisterhood of the Wailing Soul with Reverend Mother Redempta and Sister Philomena Claire.

“You won’t believe how wonderful it is,” said Reverend Mother Redempta. “You have to come and spend a whole day there is everything, there is so much to see and do.”

The festival began at 11 a.m. and ran until 8 p.m. and was located in Lewisburg. Tickets for adults were $18, eight dollars for children six through twelve, and kids under six were free.

For more information on the festival, click here.

MERCER COUNTY, W. Va. (WVVA) -If you are looking for something fun to do this summer, you might want to start by looking at the natural beauty to be found in your own backyard. That’s what brought one state-wide botany group to our neck of the woods this weekend.

The West Virginia Native Plant Society (WVNPS) is a group of people who travel to different places looking for rare plants found in the Mountain State. Their journey brought them to Mercer County, first to the Brush Creek Preserve on Saturday and then to Pinnacle Rock State Park on Sunday. There, they looked for rare plants like the Carolina lily and the highbush blueberry patch.

Kevin Campbell, a trustee for WVNPS and one of the organizers for this expedition, says the natural uniqueness of this part of West Virginia makes it the perfect spot for plant-based tourism.

“You start getting different geologic formations. You are on the edge of the ridge and valley region here of the state, so you have a lot more varied habitats to look at, and that means a lot more plants to look at,” says Campbell.

Campbell says this was the Society’s first visit to the area since their last visit a decade ago.

If you would like more information about the West Virginia Native Plant Society, how to join the group, or the plants to be found in the state, Campbell encourages you to check out the WVNPS Facebook group.

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