Hi – I’m Erin Baldwin born and raised in Pocahontas County, WV, I am thrilled to be on the “Tourism Team” for the area. I joined the CVB in March of 2009 and work as the Sales and Grant Coordinator. Not only do I get to work closely with community members, but my sales work allows me to travel around the US sharing my love for all things Pocahontas County with potential visitors.

Before coming to the CVB, I worked at Snowshoe Mountain Resort part-time for five years in various departments while attending school, and full-time for two years in the Marketing Department. So if you have a Snowshoe question, just ask!

When I am not at work I enjoy volunteering for our local Humane Society, reading, blogging, beekeeping, hiking, and learning about homesteading and all things eco-friendly.

Thanks for checking out our blog. Please enjoy and contribute.

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I’m Gail Hyer, known here as “Mountain Girl”. Born and raised in Butte, Montana (at an elevation of 4400 feet) my heart has always been in the mountains. College took me to West Lafayette Indiana (very flat and windy) and eventually I made my home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. While the Appalachians are not as high as the Rockies, they captivated me nonetheless.

Genealogy research brought me back to Pocahontas County West Virginia over and over. I discovered that my father’s grandparents were children of some of the early settlers of the region – Irish, Scotch, and German. After a couple of years and many weekend trips to the region, I made a calculated decision to move to Marlinton and do research on my family lines that migrated to this region over time.

Six months after moving to the county I took a job as marketing specialist for the Pocahontas County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The job is easy for me, as I truly love this county and the people in it (half of whom I find are my distant cousins).

My great-grandmother Lavina (Tommy) Clutter died after spending her whole life on the farm she was born 84 years earlier. Her world consisted of making home for her family, attending church, and sending the children to school, all within a five-mile radius. When first I learned of this, I thought how sad, that she saw so little of the world, that she knew so little about other places. After spending eight years exploring hills and valleys, fishing crystal clear streams and gazing at the amazing night sky, I know now why she never left – everything good that life has to offer is right here in the mountains.

I’m glad to be back home.