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Junk I Think Is Okay To Tell You
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Braxton County home to llamas?
Those of us who know anything about llamas do not expect to find them in central West Virginia; however, Braxton County alone features at least seven llamas, and all seven live on the small Gateless farm near Corley. Currently, Karin Gateless has —three males and four females. The males, Jayson, Firecracker, and Phaeton, live with females Tequila, Bianca, Sunrise, and Sheshylus—Lithuanian for Shadow. Sheshylus, named by Lithuanian foreign exchange student Monika Gailute, was born this past spring. “Monika loved the llamas,” Gateless explained. “Of course she didn’t expect to see llamas here in West Virginia, and when the baby llama came, she was ecstatic !! She even took photographs of the baby to school to show her friends.” Gailute also used the llamas in a photo-essay project she completed for her English class.  Gateless bought the original two llamas, which actually came from Ripley, “because {her} late husband Clifford loved to backpack with his Boy Scouts, and, while I loved the hiking, I did not like the idea of carrying anything on my back.” Gateless continued to explain that llamas are “excellent pack animals” who can carry 60 to 100 pounds with little effort.” In their native habitat, the Andes mountains of South American, llamas are used primarily for this purpose. Both original llamas, along with two others, died, three from infestation by deer worms and the fourth “from old age.” Gateless has since learned to prevent the problem with worms by administering monthly shots. The next pair of llamas, which remain with the family, came from South Dakota. Llamas have a gentle nature most of the time; however, Gateless frequently sees another side of this nature when she administers the monthly shots. “Llamas have a reputation for spitting,” she noted, “and they do spit but usually when you get in their faces.” She knows, for example, that llamas indicate annoyance first by “laying their ears back and raising their noses.” If the annoyance continues, the spitting begins. Along with their gentle nature, these animals “don’t make lots of noises.” If they’re separated, Gateless commented, “they go into their worry mode and hum.” To “sound an alarm,” they whinny. Browsers, llamas “eat almost anything they find.” As a matter of fact, Gateless explained, one of their favorites is that nemesis of many area farmers—the multiflora rose. “I’ve even had people comment that they’d like to borrow the llamas for awhile just to get rid of this pest on their land,” she noted, and she continued to explain that llamas are “becoming more popular, partly for pasture maintenance.” Llamas, related to camels, have three stomachs “so they actually regurgitate what they swallow before they digest it.” Like sheep, they have “big, flat lower teeth and no upper teeth.” Although she hasn’t gotten around to using the llamas as pack animals, Gateless does use their wool. She shears the llamas in the spring and uses their wool for knitting hats, socks, and mittens. Some of her knitted products go to family members, of course, but both Tamarac and the local Poplar Ridge sell her products. Commenting on the idea that many individuals consider the $60 or $70 that one of her ha  ts costs,
Gateless noted, “From the initial shearing to the finished product—one
hat—may take as many as 40 hours. She continued to explain that “the
time in itself justifies the cost.” Additionally, even though one might buy a “similar” hat at a discount store, Gateless emphasized that each of her hats “is unique, individual.” She emphasized, “You’ll never find any two alike.” The most time consuming element of producing a finished product—a pair of socks, for example, Gateless says, “is the actual knitting.” The actual shearing of one llama “takes about three hours.” Then, to make one pair of socks, she combs out “about four ounces of the wool,” washes it, dries it on a screen outside, blends it with other materials—perhaps sheep’s wool, spins it, “and then begins the knitting.” Generally, she knits in the evenings; however, she also “knits on hall duty, bus duty, and even during lunch duty.” The Gateless family members react differently to their llamas. Elijah, currently in college, “likes the llamas,” while Ashley, also a college student, “remains unimpressed with them.” On the other hand, the younger Gateless daughter, Kirsten, “loves them.” Karin Gateless admits to having a favorite although she finds all of them, from the two “reddish brown” ones and the “honey-colored” beauty to the pintos and the “two black ones,” beautiful. Her favorite is a gentle black male, Phaeton. At least he’s gentle until she starts to give him his worm medication. Then, he may well lay his ears back, raise his nose, and perhaps spit….but, after all, that’s a llama’s nature. Dennison: Kim
Dennison has "big shoes" to fill
Mike
McCoy left big shoes to fill when he became the new assistant
superintendent of Braxton County Schools and left his position as
principal of Burnsville Elementary School vacant. Kim Dennison is
willing take on the challenge.Burnsville Elementary gets new principal
“Mike did such a good job, there’s not a lot to improve upon,” Dennison said. “I just have to keep it going in the direction it is.” Dennison was a parent volunteer at Davis Elementary when the teachers told her she should be teaching. She earned her teaching degree from Glenville State College twelve years ago. She taught at Frametown Elementary for four years and Braxton County Middle School for eight years. She received her masters degree in Leadership Studies from Marshall University in May. Dennison said she had been under five different administrators in the middle school and wanted to know more about school law. “I felt it was a weak area in my own training,” Dennison explained. McCoy was Dennison’s mentor while taking graduate courses, and she became familiar with the way he ran Burnsville School as its principal. She is already familiar with the staff at Burnsville Elementary from conferences and workshops. “It’s a nice school and in good shape,” Dennison said. Burnsville has about 140 students. Smaller is sometimes better. “There is a more personal touch in all of the elementary schools,” Dennison said. Testing such as the West Virginia Educational standards test doesn’t affect smaller schools as much as larger ones. “All the elementary school in Braxton County are in line with the standards.” Decreased enrollment forces some classrooms to be split between two grades, but Burnsville has no split classes this year. Dennison said she brings a fresh eye and a different perspective to the principal position. “I’m really open to new ideas,” Dennison said. “I don’t want teachers stuck in a rut. I want them to be happy with their job, and I want to be an advocate for my teachers.” She wants to use her leadership position to make teaching easier for educators. “They all have degrees and know how to do their jobs,” Dennison said. “They should be allowed to do it.” Dennison wants to keep Burnsville Elementary a community school and encourages parents and the community to become involved in the school. Burnsville has a strong Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and alumni. “The biggest help for keeping students in school comes from outside school,” Dennison said. “More students stay in school now because if they drop out, they have to wait until they are 18 to get their driver’s license.” Dennison has five children from ages 7 to 25 and has lived most of her life in Gassaway. Kim Dennison’s biggest challenge may be learning how to use her new cell phone; all principals in Braxton County are required to carry one. “I think you need to turn it on,” Dennison’s son told her when she couldn’t get it to work. Dennison may be technology challenged for now, but she’s determined to learn. Once the cell phone is conquered, she’ll tackle her palm pilot. That’s a pretty good example for her students. |
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The bank you can believe in. |
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