The Shadow
The Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia Project Team hosted a Community Listening Session at the Historic Masonic Theater’s Thomas Dean Underground Café, Monday evening, to share stories told by community members with ties to Green Pastures.
A rather nice crowd gathered to share, listen, learn, and join in discussions on memories of a vibrant, loving, and safe place, known as Green Pastures. “There was no hate or fighting there.
Everyone respected one another and got along,” said Pearl Miller, Covington. These stories will be documented as part of an effort to create an interpretive trail and a staged reading script about the park, through a grant graciously provided by MAAV.
Joan Vannorsdall opened the Session by giving an overview of the MAAV project. She explained that the “Town of Clifton Forge pursued a grant opportunity from MAAV and was one of five projects statewide, awarded funding. In cooperation with local stakeholders, preservation
groups, and Douthat State Park, the project will create repairs to the historic picnic shelter, an interpretive trail, and a staged reading, to showcase the rich heritage and stories associated with Green Pastures.”
She was followed by a video montage about Green Pastures (created by Chuck Almarez) and a recorded presentation by the late Dr. Calvin Andre’ McClinton, who is credited with spearheading the campaign to re-open Green Pastures, after it was closed by the US Forest Service, due to budget constraints, in 2017. His efforts, along with many other local, state, and federal government agencies, Friends of Green Pastures, writers, historians, media outlets, students, churches, and many private citizens, garnered enough attention to have the park re-opened in 2021. Green Pastures is still owned by the federal government but is leased to the state.
Ettrula Moore emceed the program, introducing each speaker and prompting them with follow up questions and historical antidotes. Moore is a niece of Rev. Hugo Austin, who along with the Clifton Forge Chapter of the NAACP championed the creation of Green Pastures in the 1930s.
Residents of Covington, Wrightsville, and Clifton Forge, to include former Clifton Forge Mayor and Associate Minister Pamela Marshall, First Baptist Church, Clifton Forge and Ranger Adam Bresnehan, took to the podium to share stories while the listeners enjoyed light refreshments.
Rev. Stephanie Clark, Covington, treated the audience with a song before sharing her stories.
Bishop Isaiah Freeman, III, New Dimensions Christian Fellowship, Inc., Covington, provided the music for some spiritual singalongs. Jacob Robinson and Chance Cheek were also in attendance, representing the MAAV team.
Royal Shirée, Playwright, rounded out the program by introducing herself and sharing her role. Shirée is looking for youth, ages 10-17 and adults, ages 40+ for dramatic stage readings, singing, dancing, and congregational roles. Auditions will be conducted mid-late March 2025.
“Much of the rehearsals and auditions will be conducted via ZOOM,” said Shirée. Stage readings will be held Friday, June 13, 2025 at the Historic Masonic Theater, Clifton Forge, and June 15, 2025, at Green Pastures, Longdale Furnace, on the 85th anniversary of the park’s original
opening in 1940.
Shirée, known for “her flair for dramatic storytelling” will write the stage play based upon the stories shared and historical information gathered. She currently works as the resident playwright at the Hamner Theater in Lynchburg.
In what some are calling Green Pastures 2.0, the park is set to undergo a revitalization effort led by a collaborative partnership aimed at reigniting community interest and preserving the park’s historic legacy. “This project is an incredible opportunity to refocus attention on Green Pastures and underscore the park’s historic role in the region as the first and only US Forest Service recreation site opened to African Americans in Virginia,” says Maria Saxton, project coordinator on behalf of the Town of Clifton Forge. The MAAV project team hopes this project will serve as a catalyst for future projects at Green Pastures. There is so much more to do, and this grant will only get the park so far.
To learn more about MAAV, please visit https://www.moremountainstories.org/about-maav. For questions regarding this project, contact Maria Saxton, Director of Community Planning, Hill Studio, Roanoke at msaxton@hillstudio.com.
