Charleston's Peanut Shoppe hosting 75th anniversary celebration
Plus: Celebration Station award, Ribfest begins and more Kanawha Valley news and events
Sept. 11, 2025 | Weather: ☀️ 82° F / 🌖 51° F
Good Thursday, neighbor!
It’s September 11. Twenty-four years ago today, I walked into my second-period Spanish class at Capital High School and found students and teachers huddled around a television, arms crossed, mouths agape. At first, I thought we were watching some morbid movie, its cast made up of celebrities I hadn’t recognized. But as the images played on loop — the cerulean sky incised with shards of angry metal, sardonyx plumes of fire and dust wailing unheard prayers towards the heavens — the truth cut through. What we were witnessing was involuntary cinéma vérité, the abominable plot unfolding in real time just a few hours’ flight north.
That afternoon, after school, I helped a family friend with their Charleston Daily Mail route, as I had often done before, hurling the day’s unfathomable headlines onto doorsteps across the West Side. I can’t remember the exact words that were printed above the paper’s fold that day. But I can remember the heaviness I felt. The confusion of that seemingly never ending moment. The realization that the world as I knew it had forever changed.
That is something I can never — will never — forget.
Onward.
An A+ achievement for a local playground
Celebration Station, a community playground on Charleston’s East End, was one of more than a dozen individuals, businesses and organizations to be recognized Tuesday as part of the Charleston Area Alliance and Chamber of Conference annual We Love Our Community Awards presentation.
Community Tidbits: The Peanut Shoppe is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and a local coat drive aims to keep neighbors warm during colder weather. Here’s the 411 from communities around the Kanawha Valley, including Charleston, South Charleston and Marmet.
Today
11 a.m.-10 p.m. — Ribfest, Ben Morris Field, 8500 MacCorkle Ave., Marmet.
Noon-3 p.m. — Health Screenings, Testing & Narcan Training, across from Smokehouse, 1549 Washington St. West, Charleston.
2:30 p.m. — Creators’ Corner: Fidget Factory, Elk Valley Branch Library, 313 Crossings Mall Road, Elkview.
3 p.m. — Kids Chess Club, Kanawha County Public Library, 123 Capitol St., Charleston.
4 p.m. — Kanawha County Commission Meeting, 409 Virginia St. East, Charleston.
5 p.m. — Business After Hours, Fife Street Brewing, 180 Summers St., Charleston.
5 p.m. — No-Sew Mothman Plushie Workshop, Dunbar Branch Library, 301 12th St., Dunbar.
6 p.m. — SciFi/Fantasy Book Group, Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St., Charleston.
7 p.m. — Charleston Rogue Celtic Jam, Wandering Wind Meadery, 422 Washington St. West, Charleston.
7 p.m. — King Trivia Pub Quiz, Huddle & Hatchets, 122 Capitol St., Charleston.
7 p.m. — September Bike Night, Lee Street Triangle, 800 Lee St., Charleston.
7-9 p.m. — Get In Line Dancing, City Center at Slack Plaza, 180 Summers St., Charleston.
7:30 p.m. — Free Salsa Lessson & Open Dance, The ROQ, 1022 Quarrier St., Charleston.
Upcoming
Friday, Sept. 12 and Saturday, Sept.13 — Various times: Homesteading-ish Conference, Bible Center Church, 100 Bible Center Dr., Charleston.
Saturday, Sept. 13 — 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: The Peanut Shoppe 75th Anniversary Celebration, The Peanut Shoppe, 126 Capitol St., Charleston.
Saturday, Sept. 13 — 4:30-6:30 p.m.: Magic on Magic Island Date Night Event, Magic Island, 101 Kanawha Blvd. West, Charleston.
Sunday, Sept.14 — Noon-4 p.m.: Big Gay Cookout, Coonskin Park, Gorman Shelter, 375 Henry C Hoppy Shores Dr., Charleston.
Today, we remember the following neighbors who have recently passed:
Omer Edward Bennett III, 71, of Dunbar, died Sept. 7, 2025.
Kenneth L. Chambers, 93, of Hernshaw, died Sept. 4, 2025.
Tara Lea Diveley, 45, of Charleston, died Sept. 3, 2025.
John H. Fry, 89, of Chesapeake, died Sept. 2, 2025.
Hollis D. Griffith, Jr., 85, of South Charleston, died Sept. 6, 2025.
Stephanie Anne Haaland, 49, of Charleston, died Sept. 6, 2025.
Jerome Ashley “Jnug” Hill, Jr., 39, formerly of Charleston, died Aug. 21, 2025.
Ronald R. Holmes, 81, of Sissonville, died Sept. 8, 2025.
Hilda Lee Keffer, 95, of Powellton, died Sept. 8, 2025.
Charlotte Ann Landers, 77, of Charleston, died Aug. 24, 2025.
Ronnie Angela “Angie” McKeever, 68, of Charleston, died Sept. 3, 2025.
Rodney Dale Meador, 66, of Dunbar, died Sept. 5, 2025.
Robert “Bob” “Pop” W. Ramsey, 79, of Cross Lanes, died Sept. 3, 2025.
Kermit Allen Seagraves, 70, of Chelyan, died Sept. 6, 2025.
Marvin “Little Marvin” Smith, Jr., 51, of Charleston, died Sept. 2, 2025.
That’s all for today. Thanks for reading! Looking for more locally-made news content from around the Kanawha Valley? Make sure you:
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