From the Field: Marion, Virginia
Part of our work here at ARP is to train adults to facilitate youth programming. Back in July, we traveled to Marion, Virginia, to conduct a training in Draw the Line/Respect the Line and Teen Outreach Program© for about a dozen individuals of various backgrounds, united in their dedication to promoting optimal health for adolescents in Virginia.
As I surveyed the room full of trainees on the first day, I couldn’t help but feel the power of the decades of collective experience and expertise they shared, the weight of the last year and a half of trying to reach youth during a global pandemic, and the overwhelming sense of hope and resilience permeating the space.
The four-day training included two and a half days dedicated to TOP©, a program that promotes the positive development of teens through curriculum-guided interactive discussions, positive adult guidance and support, and community service learning; and a day and a half learning the ins and outs of Draw the Line/Respect the Line, a three-year, school-based sex education program for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students, primarily designed to help adolescents postpone having sex and provide the knowledge and skills to prevent HIV, other STD, and pregnancy. Trainees learned about the format of the programs, explored how to deliver the programming with inclusion and compassion, practiced answering typical teen questions, and showed off their skills during engaging and impressive teachbacks.
The training took place at beautiful Hungry Mother State Park. We enjoyed the rustic charm of the Lakeview Event facility (formerly The Restaurant) for our training and our lunch each day, which we took outside to the deck overlooking the lake. Although it was July, the weather was gorgeous and refreshing -- the crisp mountain air, the soothing breeze coming off the lake, the shady walking trails, and the quiet of the park’s lush environment were a perfect balance to the focused brainwork we were engaged in.
For this training, we partnered with the Mount Rogers Health District. Adolescent health champion Ginny Moorer was with us every step of the way, from arranging the space and the food to recommending accommodations and conducting the trainings with us. The training itself was a memorable experience enhanced by the rich histories of our participants, openness, trust, frequent laughter, and a shared desire to improve adolescent health. When people have a caring space in which to mutually take risks and support one another, to explore their ideas, experiences, and biases, growth and transformation can happen. Despite their many years in their various fields, everyone was receptive to what we had to share and willing to learn new material.
Each evening after training, we strolled through downtown Marion while Ginny taught us about the area. Part of our work is to learn about the communities we hope to partner with, so although we were “off work” from the training session, we continued to explore the area, its history, its legends, its landmarks, and of course, its food. Over dinner each evening at local restaurants, Ginny recounted to us the story of Hungry Mother, the history of the Crying Tree, the origin of Molly’s Knob, the goals of a community group she’s part of, and many other fascinating tidbits about Marion and Southwest Virginia.
As our Director of Partnerships, Josh has a passion and knack for meeting people and learning what matters to them. After a fabulous meal at Hungry Brother BBQ (whose brisket is the best I’ve ever had, and whose collard greens have inspired me to try cooking them at least weekly), Josh accompanied Ginny to her Appalachian Community Connectors meeting. ACC is a grassroots group connecting community members around projects to improve the community. Over the summer, they hosted a Pride event in downtown Marion and a Juneteenth celebration at the Mount Pleasant Preservation Society and Heritage Museum. The purpose of the meeting was to solidify the group’s vision and values and brainstorm future community-building events. At the meeting, Josh met Mr. William Fields, a community member who serves as executive director of the Heritage Museum. Mr. Fields encouraged Josh to visit “The Crying Tree,” which Josh did.
The Crying Tree is a very old tree located on Main Street in Marion where a young enslaved girl named Sallie (Sarah Elizabeth “Sallie” Adams) used to grieve for the family she lost when she was just 5 years old. As the story goes, when Sallie was five years old, she and the rest of her family were sold and separated from each other. Sallie stayed in Marion as the body servant to the wife of Thomas Thurman, who was ill. Each day she would sneak away, run to the tree, wrap her arms around it and cry for her lost family. Eventually, she would get married and have two daughters. One of her granddaughters, Evelyn Thompson Lawrence, founded the Preservation Society where Mr. Fields now works.
On another evening, Ginny and I met Josh at Waterlily after he hiked up to Molly’s Knob. This beautiful vista is named for Molly, a woman who, with her small child, became stranded in the wilderness, surviving on a handful of berries. Eventually, Molly became so weak that she collapsed, and when the child finally encountered someone who could help, all he could say was “hungry mother.” Unfortunately, Molly didn’t survive. Josh wasn’t entirely sure he’d survive the steep hike to the summit, but he did and he came back hungry and revived.
Waterlily is a lovely restaurant and bar located inside the General Francis Marion Hotel in downtown Marion. Its bright decor and gorgeous architecture are energizing and inspiring, a wonderful place to socialize over a delicious meal after a long day. Their menu includes farm-to-table dishes like a fried chicken quarter with red skin potato salad, Brussels sprouts and sriracha honey; beer-battered cod with house-cut French fries and sriracha slaw; and braised pork belly with truffle cheddar mac, grilled peaches and arugula (sheesh!). We also ate at The Wooden Pickle, a pub-style restaurant with excellent service, a full bar, an impressive selection of creative flatbreads, some of the best mahi tacos I’ve ever tasted, and of course, their famous signature pickle fries. To summarize, there is no shortage of five-star food in Marion.
We could not have asked for a better training experience than we had with Ginny, all our participants, and the community of Marion. The theme of the week seemed to be, as Josh put it, “the human heart in action”: people working together to respond to the needs of their community, simply because they care. We are grateful for our time spent there and hope to return soon.
This blog post was contributed by Katie Mitchell of SexEdVA, a division of James Madison University working to support sexual health education, family life programming, and positive youth development across Virginia. To inquire about partnering with them or to find out more, visit www.sexedva.org or email them at jmuarp@jmu.edu.
This publication was made possible by Grant Number TP1AH000215 from the HHS Office of Population Affairs. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Department of Health and Human Services or the Office of Population Affairs.