By Bill Billeter
For 30 years, Congressman Nick J. Rahall II, a Beckley native, has championed countless efforts to brighten the future of southern West Virginia.
Rahall has accumulated an impressive list of accomplishments as he has worked to improve the region’s infrastructure, develop its economy and protect its natural resources.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Rahall wrote legislation which created the largest network of federally protected rivers in the eastern United States, ensuring large tracts of the New and Gauley rivers would be preserved for generations.
He has spearheaded legislation that provided funding to reduce environmental threats associated with old mine sites and to reclaim abandoned mine properties.
In the late 1990s, he established the Rahall Transportation Institute, a consortium of five southern West Virginia colleges, for the purpose of improving transportation systems in West Virginia.
In light of these and many other contributions to the people of Beckley, Raleigh County and West Virginia, Rahall has been selected as the recipient of the Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA’s 2007 Spirit of Beckley Award.
“The award is designed to recognize an individual who shows what the spirit of Beckley is — giving and caring,” said Bill Baker, president of the YMCA Board of Directors and executive director of the Jobs Foundation.
Baker, who served on the committee that selected this year’s award recipient, said the choice of Rahall was unanimous.
“I’ve known Nick Rahall since he first ran for Congress,” Baker said. “He has always supported Beckley and southern West Virginia, and he has always been supportive of economic development.”
In an effort to provide better economic opportunities to southern West Virginians, Rahall has secured millions of dollars for the construction of new technology centers at Concord University, Lewisburg, Beckley and Hinton.
In 2006, Rahall pushed mining safety legislation through Congress and brought together a $4 million Mine Safety Technology Consortium in order to make mining safer and healthier.
“Congressman Rahall’s support of worthwhile projects has been key to this area’s continued growth,” said Beckley-Raleigh County YMCA CEO Jim Gilchrist.
Gilchrist also described Rahall as a representative who makes time to meet with his constituents. “He is one of the only congressmen who will meet with you if you go to Washington,” Gilchrist said.
“He is very personally accessible — humble and kind, and willing to engage one-on-one with you, whatever your concern may be,” said Roslyn Clark-Artis, vice president of Advancement at Mountain State University and co-chair of this year’s Spirit of Beckley award.
“I am personally and professionally honored to pay appropriate tribute to someone who has made a difference in the lives of southern West Virginians,” said Clark-Artis.
Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh, also a co-chair of this year’s award, described Rahall as a personal friend who grew up in Beckley and has given much back to his community.
“The things he has done have been overlooked by a lot of people,” said Pugh. “This is a chance to recognize what he has done and express our appreciation. It is a nice way to honor one of our own.”
Pugh said that Rahall has been instrumental in securing funding for projects that will improve Beckley, such as the renovation of the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine, and $20 million for the Beckley Intermodal Gateway — a large project for downtown development.
“I am humbled and highly honored to receive the Spirit of Beckley Award and to join a long list of distinguished Beckleyans who have receive this award in the past,” said Rahall. “It reminds me of my deep roots in Beckley — from a pioneer grandfather who started on a shoestring in the promising town of Beckley. It makes me emotional considering our faith and the freedom we have had to grow and learn as Beckleyans.”
The Congressman attributes his success to his upbringing and roots in Beckley and southern West Virginia. Reflecting on the award, he deflected much of the credit to the people and communities who shaped him along the way. He quoted Frank Lloyd Wright who said, “No stream rises higher than its source. Whatever man might build could never express or reflect more than he was. He could record neither more nor less than he had learned of life when the buildings were built.”
Rahall still lives in Beckley and has three children, Rebecca, Nick Joe III and Suzanne Nicole who is married to Machinist Mate Second Class Chris Brown; and one granddaughter, Madison Kaylee. He is married to the former Melinda Ross of Ashland, Ky.
Each year the Spirit recipient lends his or her name to the award, which is annually the YMCA’s largest fundraiser. Money contributed in the name of the honoree funds scholarships and helps the YMCA continue to offer youth-oriented programs.
This year’s fundraising banquet, at which Rahall will be officially honored, will take place the first week in December at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
— E-mail:
bbilleter@register-herald.com
