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NEWS
Area 'Belle' represents local CEOS at state festival
Doris H. Billups of Milton, W.Va., represented Cabell County as the Cabell County CEOS' "Belle" for the 2008 annual West Virginia State Folk Festival at Glenville, W.Va., on June 19-22.
This was the 59th year of the festival, which highlights the best of our mountain musical and arts and crafts heritage and celebrates a way of life shaped by a pioneering spirit that still beats today in the hearts of many West Virginians. Through music, storytelling, dance, ballads, handmade quilts, baskets and pottery, the festival comes to life.
Initiated in 1950 by Dr. Patrick Gainer, the volunteer festival committees roll back the hands of time and "progress" to remind us of the beauty, grace and fun that these hills have always held for so many of us. It is said to be the oldest continuously running folk festival in the United States. People attend from all over the country, year after year.
In 1957, the Folk Festival Belles became a part of the festival with 10 ladies, and they have been a tradition ever since. They are now housed during the festival in Pioneer Village, a group of student housing facilities on the Glenville State College Campus.
The Belles are selected to represent the West Virginia counties by local groups such as the Extension CEOS (Community Education Outreach Services -- formerly Extension Homemakers). Each Belle must be 70 years of age or older in the year she is chosen and posses the pioneering "can do" spirit of our mountain ancestors. They are honored guests of the festival and are hosted all weekend with a variety of special receptions, entertainment and are a treasured feature of Saturday's parade.
These marvelous ladies -- or goodwill ambassadors -- are recognized for their exemplary lives, sharing the common qualities deserving of celebration: perseverance, reverence, loyalty, independence, honesty and devotion. On Sunday morning, the Belles can be found at the festival closing, a worship service held at Job's Temple, a civil war era log church.
Billups, a member of the Milton Senior CEOS club, was sponsored by her club and Cabell County CEOS.
Billups is a graduate of St. Mary's School of Nursing in Huntington where she still serves as a volunteer. She worked in a physicians office, was an industrial nurse and also worked at Morris Memorial Hospital for Children. This mother of six enjoys quilting, knitting, sewing, feeding birds, especially hummingbirds, gardening and traveling and is active in her church.
Her advice to young women today: "Study hard, don't smoke, find a profession and some crafts you enjoy."
Doris participated in the festival in her "Belle" costume with a skirt bordered by quilt blocks, which she fashioned herself using her talents of quilting and sewing. She was accompanied to the festival by her daughter, Jane Ann Clark of Culloden, W.Va.
A grass roots affair in the truest sense, the festival comes about through the dedication and hard work of many Gilmer County groups of volunteers. Through their efforts, the independent spirit of the earliest settlers in the central mountains has been admirably upheld.
Cabell County CEOS were proud to be represented by Doris Billups in the 2008 West Virginia State Folk Festival as our Belle.
