Hobbies vary among officials
PARKERSBURG – Whether it’s working with kids, bees or history, local officials have varying interests and hobbies.
Some prefer outdoor activities, such as tennis or riding a motorcycle. Others enjoy dabbling in natural science, working with kids or revisiting history.
Wood County Administrator Marty Seufer has a love of history that has spawned other hobbies. Seufer collects carnival glass, primarily from Fenton Art Glass.
He’s also an avid collector of Civil War era books and newspapers and an amateur photographer.
Seufer has been taking pictures since he first picked up a camera -a love he inherited from his father. Seufer prefers subjects that may be of future historical interest.
“I like to take pictures of things today and the way they are and hopefully, someone will pick it up a 100 years from now and think it’s pretty cool.”
A good example is Fenton Art Glass, Seufer said.
“We take a tour and watch how it is made, but five, 10 years you forget how it is made,” he said. “I think it’s important to document it,”
When the earthquake shook Wood County last month and officials were inspecting the Wood County Courthouse for damage, they turned to Seufer.
“I have pictures of the courthouse going back 10, 11 years,” he said. “We were able to pull them up, look at them and see if there was any damage.”
Seufer gets particularly excited about the Civil War and history. His love for the period led him to acquire old newspapers, some more than 200 years old.
He has an 1860 Harper’s Weekly newspaper framed in his office outlining the Republican presidential candidates.
Seufer said he’ll read about historical events and will want a newspaper from the period to see what people then were reading and feeling.
“The Civil War was just a cool period of time to be reading what people were reading at the time,” said Seufer, a Williamstown City Council member who also is a master gardener.
Parkersburg City Councilman Tom Joyce is a part-time beekeeper. Joyce and his partner Dr. Jeff McElroy have about 16 hives.
“I fooled around with bees several years ago, got away from it and got back into,” he said. “It is just a hobby, like any other, I enjoy it.”
Joyce likes the science of beekeeping.
“They are delicate creatures, but at the same time they do most of the work themselves,” Joyce said. “The hardest part is adding hives, splitting hives and growing your apiary (bee yard).”
Parkersburg Mayor Bob Newell plays tennis and bicycles.
In season, Newell plays tennis once a week.
He bikes four times a week, doing a 12-mile loop in the evening and an 18-mile loop to Fort Boreman Hill on weekends.
Wood County Magistrate Brenda Marshall likes to ride motorcycles. on the advice of her brother, she purchased a Harley-Davidson Sportster more than a decade ago.
“I always dated people who rode bikes and I rode bikes with my brothers,” she said. “I always liked the wind in my hair, the freedom and I enjoyed being outdoors. I am an outdoors kind of girl.”
Marshall said she hasn’t made long trips, but has ridden her Harley to Huntington, Wheeling and Morgantown. she hasn’t ridden in months, citing weather and back problems.
“I don’t go for the long haul. It’s a sport bike,” she said.
Jay Powell, member of the Pleasants County Commission, is an assistant high school football coach. in addition to serving opn the commission, Powell, a speech pathologist, also contracts his services at Camden Clark Medical Center and along with his brother, operates an assisted living home.
Powell also hunts, but he really enjoys fall Friday nights along the sidelines.
He’s spent the last seven seasons as a position coach for the St. Marys High School Blue Devils. Powell, who has two daughters, has no kids or relatives on the team. Powell and St. Marys head coach Jodi Mote were high school teammates.
“I am certainly thrilled to get the chance to coach,” he said. “Football is a passion and something I enjoy to do when I get the time to do it.”