This article, written by Todd Preston, President of the Magoffin County Historical Society, was taken from the April 26, 2012 issue of THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT newspaper.

            The Ramey Memorial Park in the Dixie section of Salyersville as well as the Gardner Farm just on the outskirts of Salyersville both were areas of large celebrations this past week end!  I am sure you will find other mention of both events in other parts of the newspaper but I want to speak of them here also. 

            The Ramey Park gathering was hosted by the Christ in Action (I dubbed them the “Red Shirts”) and the Praise Assembly group who have spent the last six weeks in our county helping with clean-up after the March 2^nd tornado. 

            I understand the Christ in Action group is from Manassas, VA and have responded to many other areas who have suffered disasters.  The Praise Assembly group is from neighboring Prestonsburg, KY and they provided food and shelter for the volunteer groups.  It is amazing to see what good they have all done.  It has made such a difference in the looks of our community as well as uplifted our spirits.  I have witnessed the work of these groups here in Salyersville as well as Middle Fork and other sections of our county.  They don’t quit until every scrap is picked up!  They have sacrificed their own comfort and given up time from their families and activities to come and be of aid to us.  We can never thank them enough.

            There are many other groups who have helped during this clean up effort, men and women who have risked their lives to bring some order to the tornado chaos.  It was amazing to see the men who tied ropes around their waists for safety then climbed up and sawed up the large white pines from the hillside behind my daughter Jessica’s house. It is a scene that will remain in my mind.  These early responders came from Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio and other places.  Everyone who has helped has our grateful thanks. 

            The Gardner Farm was the location of the Civil War Reenactment that was a spectacular affair.  A record number of re-enactors came from many parts and really outdid themselves in putting on a terrific show.  As of right now we do not have many local re-enactors so these participants came from Floyd, Johnson and Perry counties here in Kentucky and several states such as Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio were represented.  We are in need of more local re-enactors.  I loaned out my suit to Burnis Patrick and he got into the act as well as my great-grandson Jesse Brown who was a flag bearer during the battles.

            The Hall Community Center was the site of the Saturday Night Civil War ball and was a wondrous event.  The Joseph family did the “picking” (music) and Wendell Hoskins called the sets.  There was an abundance of food and soft drinks for all those attending.  They had an intermission to view a luminary show across the bridge in the park.  I didn’t stay very late at the ball as I wanted to get back down on the Gardner Farm early the next morning  More re-enactors came in for the Sunday event and there were church services conducted by Rev. William McKiven who always gives a terrific and inspiring message.

            We were served a turkey dinner on Sunday after which we witnessed another re-enactment (so the Union could win – SMILE)!

            Thank goodness for the wonderful weather throughout the whole weekend.  It was very pleasant to be out in the beautiful spring (almost summer like) weather.

            As the visitors began to move out after the reenactment, they would stop and tell us how grateful they were for the terrific food and wonderful fellowship and they hoped they could come back the next time we had such an event! 

            So it is time for our local people to get more involved for the next re-enactment at South Magoffin (Puncheon Creek/Half Mountain) battle grounds. 

            Founders Days 2012 are getting closer by the hour and we are looking for anyone interested in helping with plans for this event to come in or let us hear from you.  We have not seen much interest in this Labor Day affair so far but it is understandable what with all that has happened in our county thus far this year.