Berkeley Springs State Park

trishr@herald-mail.com BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - A local quilt maker who has made the Apple Butter Festival quilt for 14 years recently was inducted into the Apple Butter Festival Hall of Fame by the Morgan County-Berkeley Springs Chamber of Commerce. Rika Bennett said she was commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce to make the Apple Butter quilts. Tickets are sold by the Chamber, and the quilt is raffled off Sunday, the second day of the annual festival. The queen-size "Blue Virginia Star" quilt is Bennett's latest creation and will be displayed in Berkeley Springs State Park during the festival.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Betty Lou Harmison celebrated her 81st birthday Monday, and earlier this month she was named the 2007 History Hero by the West Virginia Archives and History Commission. Nominated by the Museum of the Berkeley Springs, Harmison has served on the board of directors and help found the organization in 1984. "The history here is so compelling. I had to know about this town," she said. Born in Bridgewater, Va., Betty Lou Lambert moved to Berkeley Springs with her mother in 1943.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.VA. Fortified with an extra dose of pain medication, Jenna Hansroth took the floor Saturday at her own Dunkin' Diabetes basketball fundraiser, which the 13-year-old Berkeley Springs girl organized last year to fight the disease. "There's no use complaining about it ... you just have to get out there and work on it," Jenna said as she played as hard as she could in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament at her Warm Springs Middle School gym. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in September 2004, Jenna said she has gotten used to testing her blood-sugar level six or seven times a day, taking pain medication four times a day and giving herself a dozen shots a day into her stomach.

Two Eastern Panhandle residents were among 52 people from around West Virginia who were named History Heroes for their grassroots-level contributions to the preservation, promotion and perpetuation of the state's history. History enthusiasts gathered Feb. 22 in the Cultural Center in Charleston, W.Va., for the awards ceremony that kicked off a successful day of celebrating West Virginia history. Throughout the day, the State Capitol Rotunda was filled with exhibitors and re-enactors eager to share their enthusiasm for the history of the state.

Cruise-in Hub City Cruisers hold cruise-ins on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Food is available. 5 to 9 p.m. today. Long Meadow Shopping Center, at Potomac and Northern avenues, Hagerstown. $2 per vehicle. Call Dave Wallech at 301-766-7546 or e-mail dwallech@netzero.net . George Washington's Potomac Company Karen Gray presents a program, "George Washington's Potomac Company Canals. " 2 p.m. today. Discovery Station, 101 W. Washington St., Hagerstown.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- A familiar sight returned Wednesday to Berkeley Springs to a round of applause. A new 26-foot-high cupola was placed on the half-built Morgan County Courthouse, making the new structure start to resemble the old one. More than 200 people waited patiently around the construction site, across Fairfax Street and in Berkeley Springs State Park from about 11:30 a.m. until the cupola was hoisted into place by a crane...

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.VA. trishr@herald-mail.com The Christmas tree was lighted, the mantles were decorated and the fireplaces were glowing Sunday afternoon at Berkeley Castle, the site for the annual tea party in Berkeley Springs. The third annual Yule Tea, hosted by the Museum of the Berkeley Springs, has become such a popular event that it was sold out weeks ago, said Tamme Marggraf, museum president. Andrew Gosline, who purchased the castle in 2003 and uses it as a private home, conducted tours of the upper rooms while the Warm Springs Chamber Ensemble entertained guests with "a potpourri of Mozart, Viennese waltzes and Christmas music," pianist Pat Springer said.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - The fourth annual Yule Tea, the tea party at the Berkeley Castle, had something new this year. Rosa Pelham Suit, for whom the castle was built in the late 1800s as a wedding present by her husband, Samuel Taylor Suit, was portrayed by local actress and musician Jill Klein Rone. As the guests took in the beauty of the castle's entrance hall and the burgundy and gold Christmas decorations, Klein Rone as Rosa swept down the wide center staircase and told the audience about her life in Berkeley Springs in the "gay '90s.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- The slight chill in the air did not keep people from attending the first day of the 36th annual Apple Butter Festival on Saturday. About 40,000 people are expected to attend the event this weekend, said Laura Smith of Travel Berkeley Springs. "It's cool and fall-like and it's festival weather," Smith said. "The changing leaves are a backdrop. It's nice weather. " More than 200 people gathered in front of the magistrate courthouse on Fairfax Street to watch the 36th annual turtle race, which set a record with 38 turtle entrants this year.