Shortly after the independence of the United States, Benjamin Franklin in a letter to his daughter, Sarah Bache, stated that he was disappointed that the nation turned to the bald eagle as the national symbol. He humorously called the bald eagle “a Bird of bad moral character (that) does not get his living honestly.” A turkey, conversely, “is in comparison a much more respectable bird and withal a true original Native of North America.”
Though “vain and silly” a turkey nonetheless “would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm.”
Every October, Mathias comes together to celebrate the “vain and silly” bird and honor those who have worked so hard then and now to build and improve the turkey industry in the Lost River valley and elsewhere in the region.
Poultry farming found a welcome home early on in the Shenandoah Valley, the next-door neighbor to the valley within which Mathias is nestled. Both chicken and turkey farming through the end of the 19th century took place almost exclusively with small backyard flocks. Barter or sale at the nearby store served as the limit of the market.
Additionally the disruption of General Phillip Sheridan’s destruction of almost all farming in the Valley took decades from which to recover. He had been ordered to lay waste to the region and starve Virginia citizens into submission to the Union.
In the 1880s, a curious and intelligent young Mennonite named Samuel Blosser started experimenting with using artificial warmth, instead of the mother hen, to incubate and develop eggs. By the 1930s, the extension of electric power into the region spawned a large expansion of hatcheries. Early on, however, most farmers avoided working with the more ornery turkeys and stuck to chickens.
Then came Charles Wampler Senior. As a young man, he earned money helping his mother, saved up, and purchased a turkey. That seven dollars translated into the purchase of one turkey. From there, Wampler worked to breed a more ideal domestic turkey. Genetics work done today with computers and artificial intelligence was done by observation, data collection, and his own analysis.
Later on, he teamed with Virginia Tech to develop specific incubation equipment and procedures for turkey eggs.
Said his son Charles Jr “all the others told him that turkeys were by nature wild and would never grow in confinement.”
From the 1930s through the 1950s the turkey industry grew quickly in the Shenandoah Valley. Hardy County farmers saw the profits earned and many made the jump to turkeys. In 1938, West Virginia has 274,000 turkeys compared to four million chickens. The basic needs of soldiers in World War II pushed more modernization into food production almost everywhere because, as Napoleon said “an army moves on its belly.”
Just as Moorefield emerged as a center of gravity for chicken production and processing, so Mathias did for turkeys by the 1950s. According to the West Virginia Encyclopedia, “beginning in 1950, great changes took place in the poultry industry. Poultry farming changed from the keeping of a flock of chickens as part of a diversified farm operation to the specialized production of broilers under contract to a major meat processor. Disease and parasite controls, feed-conversion enhancements, accelerated growth, and bigger housing were among the changes.”
Operations also started to specialize. In Fort Seybert, about two centuries after the burning of the namesake fortification by Indians, M. B. Rexrode Turkey Farm was established in 1955, same year as the Turkey Festival. It was the first, and likely still only example of a “turkey layers” operation in the Mountain State.
Those changes served as signs of the growth of the importance of the poultry industry overall and specifically turkey growers in the Lost River Valley. The 1950s brought a revolution in methods and Mathias was proud to celebrate those whose work earned the money that supported the economy there.
Long ago, the Ruritan Club started off as a simple monthly community dinner whose mission expanded tremendously very quickly. These clubs served as social centers and also service clubs for their communities. In 1955, the Mathias Ruritan Club needed to raise funds for service work and went back to the community gathering well. They formed the West Virginia Turkey Festival, which continues to entertain locals, honor tradition and the hard work of farmers, and also bring in tourists looking for old fashioned family fun and fellowship.
On Saturday Oct 24, the tradition continues in Mathias. The festival welcomes vendors from near and far to sell their wares or consumables. Also fun for everyone, the Festival hosts a cruise in on the Old Mathias Schoolhouse lawn. Trophies for best in show, best antique truck, best original car, and best hot rod will be given with a registration fee of only $10.
Last Saturday, the West Virginia Turkey Festival Pageant was held with divisions for Teen, Queen, and Mr./Mrs. On the day of the Festival, organizers will hold a Junior Royalty Pageant for girls up to 12 years old and boys up to five.
The Queen serves as ambassador for the West Virginia turkey industry, appearing at events in and out of state. She also helps to inform and educate both officials and the public about the industry and its importance.
No state does fairs and festivals with as much entertainment, education value, community heritage, and sheer fun as the Mountain State. And on October 24, the best festival one can find in the region is flanked by the mountains and ridges on either side of Mathias.
