Kyle Lovern
Sports Editor
GOODY, Ky. — The Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce (TVCC) elected four new board members and re-elected its officers for the coming fiscal year.
The organization held its monthly luncheon meeting on Monday at Giovanni’s located at the South Side Mall.
Charley McCoy, Scott Poole, David Hatfield and Adam Warren were voted in as the four new board members. The TVCC also replaced two board members that have not been attending meetings on a regular basis. The two members chosen to replace those two slots were June Blevins and Tranquilla Whitt. They will replace Chad May and George Swain.
“It is good to get some new, young blood in the chamber,” Chamber President Charley McCoy said of Poole and Warren. They both recently moved back to the Tug Valley area and are getting involved in local tourism and other events.
McCoy was re-elected as president for another year, while Leigh Ann Ray was re-elected as vice president and Sherrie Holler was voted in again as treasurer.
The board voted to change the Coal House internet and telephone service to Suddenlink on the recommendation of Chamber Director Natalie Young. The Chamber has been serviced by Frontier. The new deal will save the TVCC $89 per month and they will also now have cable TV service if needed in the new package.
Holler gave an update on the financial report and said that everything balanced out. The Chamber has been making more revenue in the past few months because of sales of books, T-shirts and other memorabilia.
Hatfield gave the organization an update on the upcoming Hatfield-McCoy Marathon which will be held the weekend of June 7, 8 & 9. Over 640 runners have already registered, doubling the number at the same time last year. Hatfield expects record numbers and that there could be as many as 1,000 runners participating in the half marathon and full marathon this year.
He said the Tug Valley Road Runners Club needs more volunteers, especially with the amount of runners expected to come to the Williamson and Matewan areas that weekend. If anyone is interested in volunteering they can call 606-625-0688. The TVRRC meets each Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Tug Valley Inn on Second Avenue in Williamson. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend.
Hatfield also announced that the Matewan Depot museum is currently closed. The replica depot building is owned by the town of Matewan. However, the Matewan Historical Society has been operating the museum and gift shop. Hatfield suggested that the Chamber offer advice or help to the town of Matewan.
Chamber members agreed that during the next few weeks the museum needs to be opened for tourists. Director Young and President McCoy are to contact the town’s mayor Shelia Kessler and maybe some council members to offer assistance and to schedule a meeting.
Wendy Baisden updated the TVCC on her GeoCaching event scheduled for the weekend of August 31 to September 1. Over 100 have already registered for this happening and Baisden, who is one of the top GeoCaching participants in the country, expects as many as 500 in town for the event.
Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches.”, according to Wikipedia. The events attract tourists and bring in revenue to areas.
Other events scheduled for the coming weeks are:
May 18 – Matewan Heritage Days and the Relay for Life 5-K in West Williamson
May 20 – WV Sesquicentennial program at the Williamson Library
May 26 – Eugene Crum Memorial Motorcycle Ride
June 1 – Shriners Car Show
June 8-9 – Hatfield & McCoy Festival and Marathon
June 14-16 - Williamson High School all class reunion












