A 35-panel handmade quilt created by the Delectable Mountains Quilt Guild to mark the occasion of Morgan County’s 200th birthday was unveiled during a public event at Berkeley Springs State Park on Monday, July 6.
Monday was “Morgan County Day,” proclaimed by county officials late last year as the day to mark the county’s bicentennial.
Earlier plans for a public celebration and a large gathering of county residents on July 6 didn’t come to pass, but county and town officials gathered to make speeches to commemorate the day.
The county quilt, which measures 72 inches by 94 inches, was the literal backdrop of the speeches and hung on center stage at the Berkeley Springs State Park gazebo for the bicentennial speeches.
Quilter Abby Chapple was the first speaker of the event. She and quilter Cheryl Rink introduced attendees to the light-colored quilt, which will hang at the guild’s 2020 Quilt Show and then in the county courthouse.
Chapple said the quilt represents the work of the 50-member guild. She credited Cheryl Rink for putting the 35 panels together and adding embellishments throughout the piece.
“We made it as a gift to you, the citizens of Morgan County and we want you to enjoy it,” said Chapple.
The quilt show runs at the Ice House art center from July 23 through September 13.
Morgan County’s quilt will move to the courthouse after the show closes.
Panels in the quilt represent various locations, industries, historic sites, natural features, events, communities and community groups in the county. Below is a listing of each panel who created it:
- U.S. Silica Sand Mine train by Lisa Perry
A quilt depicting Morgan County’s 200 years of history was unveiled Monday on “Morgan County Day” by members of the Delectable Mountains Quilt Guild, who made the piece as a gift to the people of Morgan County.
- Washington Heritage Trail, museum and Roman bath by Cheryl Rink
- Native Americans by Ola Broyles
- Service Organizations by Susannah Kip
- Morgan County Courthouse by Susan Waugh
- The Troubadour by Darlene Narango
- Sleepy Creek Watershed by Susan Taylor-Dropp
- General Daniel Morgan by Cheryl Rink
- The Healing Arts & War Memorial Hospital by Cheryl Rink
- Dogwoods & Redbuds by Carmen Winiarski
- The Cacapon River by Abby Chapple
- Apple Butter Festival by Carmen Winiarski
- Police, 911, Fire, Rescue and First Responders and bicentennial logo by Payton Brown and Cheryl Rink
- Many Schools by Carmen Winiarski
- The Observatory by Darlene Narango
- The Star Theatre by Karen Ridenour-Price
- The Berkeley Springs Castle by Deb Nash
- Panorama Peak View as seen by George Washington by Jane Frenke
- Civil War History by Cheryl Rink
- Mountains & Fields by Gail Childcote
- George Washington’s Bathtub by Susannah Kipp
- WV Map with the heart on Morgan County by Shirley Hillgren
- Berkeley Springs State Park by Susannah Kipp
- Morgan Arts Council Ice House by Carmen Winiarski
- Many Wildflowers by Mary Roach
- The Country Inn by Denise Cline
- Many Churches by Dottie O’Toole
- Tuscarora Trail by Lin Vance
- Cacapon State Park by Beth Duboff
- Morgan County Public Library by Cheryl Rink
- Great Cacapon by Cheryl Rink
- Berkeley Springs by Susan Waugh
- Paw Paw by Laura Gough
- Morgan County Humane Society by Carole Keyser.
