WEST VIRGINIA (WVDN) – Get ready to experience a chef-curated, multi course dinner featuring locally sourced ingredients! This is your chance to get up close and personal with the chefs, farmers, and traditions at the heart of West Virginia’s thriving agritourism movement. Enjoy an authentic taste of Appalachian heritage set against a stunning riverside backdrop at the scenic Laurel River Club Bed & Breakfast. Join us on September 20th – it’s more than just a meal.
Chef Melanie Campbell, Assistant Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Davis and Elkins College, will create the evening’s fare. This Certified Executive Chef was selected as one of the “Top 5 Chefs” in West Virginia for sustainable efforts by Executive Magazine of West Virginia. Campbell has extensive experience in her field and has won and judged numerous culinary competitions.
All proceeds will help fund the creation of an educational commercial kitchen at Laurel Fork Farm, home of the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills. The facility hosts year-round workshops in farming, food preservation, cooking and many more heritage skills that were once part of everyday life in an effort to back the old ways to create new agritourism programs.
Laurel River Club B&B is managed by the Waybright family, and run by Marsha Waybright. As a West Virginia female business entrepreneur, she also manages the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills and the Laurel Fork Farm, along with her family. Together, the facilities provide a unique destination for distinctive learning experiences that connect you to the region’s rich heritage and nature. Waybright said the West Virginia School of Traditional Skills is “a 501c3 dedicated to preserving and passing on traditional rural and natural skills via immersive, hands-on learning. Held in a scenic farm and Bed & Breakfast setting, its workshops and field experiences range from food preservation and herbalism to wildlife encounters – and enrich both personal growth and professional development.”
