Btridge dayt10 20 all wh bu

CyanMagentaYellowBlackR-H Page 1A

■ NEWS HOTLINE: 304-255-4400 ■ TO SUBSCRIBE: CALL 304-255-4444 or 800-950-0250

THEREGISTER HERALDSunday, October 20, 2013 Beckley, West Virginia ◆ Single copy: $1.50

Volume 134Number 123

BRIDGE . . . . . . . . 10E

CALENDAR . . . . . . . 7A

CLASSIFIED . . . . 4C-8C

COMICS. . . . . . INSIDE

DEAR ABBY . . . . . . 4E

DEATHS . . . . . . . . . 6A

HISTORY. . . . . . . . . 6E

HOROSCOPES . . . . 12E

NEWS OF RECORD . 8A

OPINION . . . . . . . . . 4A

SPORTS . . . . . . 1D-8D

STATE & REGION . . 3A

STOCKS . . . . . . 3B-4B

TELEVISION. . . . . . . 7B

INSIDE TODAY

Sunny.

High 56. Low 38.Details, Page 8A

WEATHER

B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3

By Bruce SchreinerASSOCIATED PRESS

CHARLESTON — West Vir-ginia’s expansive system ofstate parks draws big crowdslooking to unwind or play in itsmountains, rivers and lakes,but the eye-catching scenery is

mixed with structures showingsigns of decline.

State lawmakers preparingfor the 2014 legislative sessionare looking at funding optionsfor the upkeep of a network of35 parks, seven forests, fivewildlife management areasand two rail trails that attract-

ed more than 6.6 million visitslast year.

One option that a top law-maker would like to avoid isassessing a fee to enter thestate parks.

The parks are an economicforce, generating $127 millionof economic activity. The out-

door activities including hikingand biking let West Virginianswork up a sweat in a statestruggling with one of the na-tion’s highest obesity rates.

Nearly 200 of the park sys-tem’s almost 1,500 buildingsare 75 years or older, Depres-sion-era structures included in

the backlog of needed repairs.A legislative audit recom-mended infusing at least $3million each year for major re-pairs to chip away at mainte-nance and renovations that to-tal tens of millions of dollars.

Videos from Bridge Day

State lawmakers review funding needs for W.Va. parks■ AGING FACILITIES IN NEED OF RENOVATION

See PARKS, 8A

Freefalls, families and deep-fried fun34th annual festivalis a success with only a few injuriesand a new recordBy Brandi UnderwoodREGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

Extreme sports, deep-fried Oreos, cell-phone selfies and family bonding may notalways blend harmoniously, but at Satur-day’s Bridge Day festival, these compo-nents merged seamlessly to pass theevent’s 34th successful year.

Bridge Day has come a long way sinceits inauguration in 1980. In its first year,two parachutists jumped from a plane on-to the bridge, and a mere five BASEjumpers leaped from the bridge into thegorge, according to the official Bridge Daywebsite. Back then, certificates were dis-tributed to the people who showed up towatch the action and walk the 3,030-footlength of the bridge. To a crowd of 5,500,that was feasible. Now catering to a crowdof more than 70,000, certificates are nolonger awarded. However, people havefound new ways to commemorate the day.

DeLynn and Doug Davis, of Charleston,visited Bridge Day for the first time in 22years Saturday.

“It’s amazing how much it’s changed,”said Doug. “It’s become a lot more com-mercialized.”

Standing 876 feet above the ground, thecouple snapped a photo of themselves onthe bridge to send to their children. As re-cent empty nesters, DeLynn said theywant to prove to their kids that they couldstill have fun without them.

“Look, mom and dad still have a life,”DeLynn joked.

With more than 100 vendors, BridgeDay now offers something for everyone.From household goods to a turn on atrampoline, people can take away sou-venirs of both the tangible and intangiblevarieties.

Eight-year-old Elisha Tabit, of Fayet-teville, caught some major air and per-formed a few backflips of his own on theFun Factory’s bungee trampoline.

“You feel like you don’t weigh

It’s an event made fordaredevils ...By Wendy HoldrenREGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

“What’s the worst thatcould happen?” a New Yorkskydiver asked his buddy be-fore getting ready to leap offthe New River Gorge Bridgeduring the 34th annualBridge Day.

Hundreds of daredevilsfrom all over the world suitedup Saturday, many for theirfirst ever BASE jump.

One of the first-timers,Evalina Turpin, of Canada,said her first jump was“amazing.”

She hit the water, but shesaid that was her goal since itwas her first BASE jump:“Better to be safe than sorry,”she said.

... and theirloved onesBy Wendy HoldrenREGISTER-HERALD REPORTER

Bridge Day was a great daynot only for jumpers, but forfamilies as well, including atleast one father and son BASEjumping team and one nervousmother whose daughter wasjumping for the first time.

Ruth Leventry’s 26-year-olddaughter, Lisa, took her firsttandem BASE jump Saturday.

“She’s never even been sky-diving!” her nervous mothersaid. “Her instructor is sup-posed to be a top-of-the-lineinstructor though.”

More photosPicture page on 1C and photos throughoutthis section.

F. BRIAN FERGUSON/THE REGISTER-HERALD (3)

Visitors make the walk to the New River Gorge Bridge ... a BASE jumper hangs suspended in a foggy gorge ... big screens showed viewers a live-action vicarious thrill.

CHRIS TILLEY/FOR THE REGISTER-HERALD

Almost dry: A jumper sets down in the New River just shy of the landing area.

See DAREDEVILS, 8A

See FAMILIES, 8A See FESTIVAL, 2A

register-herald.comWatch online

SPO

RTS,

1D

MO

NEY

,1B

INSI

DE

$150IN COUPON SAVINGS

MORE THANALL{wood}FIRED

UP

WVU SUFFERSFIRST HOMEGAME LOSS

CyanMagentaYellowBlackR-H Page XX

FromPageOne2A THE REGISTER-HERALD

Sunday, October 20, 2013 www.register-herald.com

B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3

anything,” Elisha said.“It’s like you’re in space.”

Elisha, a budding thrillseeker, said he plans togo skydiving when he’solder.

“It would be awesome,I’m guessing,” he added.

At the center of thebridge, the crowd close tothe BASE jumping plat-form teemed with excite-ment.

While the catapult anddiving board were popu-lar methods of exit, MikeGreen, of Ohio, was theonly BASE jumper of theday who chose to crowd-surf, using the hands offellow BASE jumpers tolead him off the bridge’sedge.

John Walsh, of Penn-sylvania, had a teddybear protected by a plas-tic bag attached to hissuit. He said that afterhis jump, the BASEjumping bear will be giv-en to a child battling can-cer as part of Canopiesfor Kids, a Chicago-basedskydiving charity.

BASE jumpers repre-senting 41 states andeight countries took theplunge to the river bot-tom, with women com-prising around 10 percentof the group. Two para-plegic BASE jumpers alsoparticipated, proving thatBASE jumping can beachieved by anyone whosets his or her mind to it.

Also defying obstacles,84-year-old DonaldCripps, of Pensacola, Fla.,broke the record for beingthe oldest person to everBASE jump.

By around 1:30 p.m.,all of the jumpers had en-joyed their first jump, al-lowing the round of re-peaters to begin. At theday’s end, 903 jumpswere completed and onlyfour jumpers were trans-ported to the hospitalwith minor injuries, saidBridge Day ChairwomanCindy Dragan.

BASE jumping wasn’tthe only extreme sportsighted at Bridge Daythis year.

Members of the crowdwho were lucky to be inthe right place at theright time were able towatch BMX and XPogo,or extreme pogo, champi-ons demonstrate theirskills.

Oohs and aahs fol-lowed the crazy tricks ofBMX professional and XGames gold medalistTerry Adams, who at onepoint pulled close to adozen full turns whilebalancing on the pegs ofhis front wheel.

Possibly inspired by allof the agility and fear-lessness around him, 8-year-old Michael Martel-li, of Maryland, took ashot at the U.S. Marines’pull-up bar, riling thecrowd up as his tiny mus-cles completed more pull-ups than he could counton one hand, much to hisgrandmother’s delight.

“One more! One more!”the onlookers shouted.

A true family-friendlyevent, Bridge Day has away of bringing lovedones together. Sally Hyl-ton, of Prosperity, reunit-ed with her two sisters,who live in other states,and two of their child-hood friends from Cali-fornia.

Hylton was born inWest Virginia, wasraised in California, andhas since found her wayback home.

“I think West Virginiais the best kept secret,”Hylton said.

Similarly, BeckySmall, formerly of Fayet-teville but who has re-cently relocated to Flori-da, has been attendingBridge Day for the last26 years, and said shedoesn’t plan to stop at-tending the event eventhough she doesn’t live asclose as she used to.

“This year, Bridge Daybrought me home,” shesaid.

— E-mail: [email protected]

FESTIVALContinued from 1A

CHRIS TILLEY/FOR THE REGISTER-HERALD (3)

ABOVE: A BASE jumper floats down with an American flag bigger than his parachute.

LEFT: A jumper makes an almost perfect landing.

The scene behind this BASE jumper gives an idea ofjust how big the New River Gorge Bridge is.





BRIDGE . . . . . . . . 10E

CALENDAR . . . . . . . 7A



DEAR ABBY . . . . . . 4E

DEATHS . . . . . . . . . 6A

HISTORY. . . . . . . . . 6E


NEWS OF RECORD . 8A

OPINION . . . . . . . . . 4A

SPORTS . . . . . . 1D-8D


STOCKS . . . . . . 3B-4B


INSIDE TODAY

Sunny.


WEATHER

B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3













See PARKS, 8A

























See DAREDEVILS, 8A



SPO

RTS,

1D

MO

NEY

,1B

INSI

DE



UP


B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3

23-inch CyanMagentaYellowBlackR-H Page XX Jumps



Yesterday’s high 58°Yesterday’s low 41°Record high 81° in 1938, 1908Record low 19° in 1930

Precipitation (period ending 6 p.m. yesterday)

Sunrise today 7:38 a.m.Sunset today 6:40 p.m.

• For statewide fishing reports on-line, visit: www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/weekly_fishreport.shtm

• For the latest river and stream reports, which are updated at 8 a.m. each day

by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, phone the following numbers:

Bluestone Lake 304-466-0156Lake, New River, Greenbrier River information

Summersville Lake 304-872-5809Lake, Meadow River information

R.D. Bailey Lake 304-664-9587Lake information

• SIX-DAY FORECAST • W.VA. FORECAST

• SEVERE WEATHER, ROAD CONDITIONS

• LAKES, STREAMS, FISHING LOTTERY

To report severe weather, call the National Weather Service toll-free

at 877-633-6772

Current weather and alerts on-line:www.WVVA.com

West Virginia road conditionswww.transportation.wv.gov or

877-WVA-ROAD

www.register-herald.com

• NATIONAL FORECAST

• ALMANACLast 24 hours

Traceinches

For year32.50inches

For month0.81inches

Daily 3: 4-1-8 Daily 4: 1-3-0-7Hot Lotto:05-13-17-31-32Hot Ball: 16Est.: $1.05 million

Powerball:9-33-54-56-57Powerball: 5Est.: $186 million

O1SUD451

She’s no stranger toskydiving, though — she’sbeen doing it for nearlyfour years and she hasjumped 350 times. Shesaid her friends convincedher to try BASE jumpingand she’s glad they did.

A group of five friends,from Russia, Ukraine andLithuania, all makingtheir first BASE jump,came to Bridge Day forthe first time this year.

“It was so cool. It wasabsolutely unbelievable,”35-year-old AndreMarenich said.

He said he was prettynervous in line waiting tojump and even morenervous when he slippedon his start.

That slip from the startturned into a flip, so hesaid his first BASE jumphas an awesome story be-hind it.

“It’s our first time inWest Virginia,” addedHelen Ursachii, 29.

She said she especiallyenjoyed the view whilecoasting down after herfreefall.

Three friends fromNew Jersey, who werepart of a skydiving com-pany called Cross Keys,geared up to make ajump together Saturday.

James Russell, 29,Nick Giraldo, 23, andLinda Hoehman, 24,

were also impressed bythe gorgeous view at theNew River Gorge. Theysaid they were drawn toBridge Day because ofthe opportunity to jumpoff such a tall bridge.They hope to somedaymake a jump in Switzer-land and Greece.

“It’s legal bridge jump-ing!” said Mike Esposito,25, of Florida. “It’s awe-some!”

Esposito has 730 sky-dives under his belt andwas all smiles aftersmoothly landing hisjump. This year markedhis third year jumping atBridge Day.

Alex Girard, 35, ofCanada, said this was hisfirst time making a jumpat Bridge Day, but he’sbeen skydiving for threeyears and has racked up275 jumps. He’s only beenBASE jumping for abouttwo months, but he’s al-ready made 32 jumps.

“It’s exciting,” Girardsaid. “There’s alwaysnew stuff to try.”

He said Saturday hewas going to attempt hisfirst backflip while BASEjumping.

Many first-timers andamateurs made the bigleap Saturday, but a fewof the jumpers were well-seasoned.

Jack Corcoran, 72, ofSterling, Va., has made15 jumps off the NewRiver Gorge Bridge, andtook his first jump atBridge Day back in 1986.

He has taken an im-pressive 2,000 skydivesin his time, the first backin 1961, and he has alsoracked up nearly 40BASE jumps.

“It’s just a hobby. I’vejumped in Arizona andTexas. I can’t explain it, Ijust do it.”

The jumper with themost impressive resumewould most likely be MoeViletto, of Pittsburgh. “IfI live through today, I’llbe 62 tomorrow.”

Viletto, who has beenskydiving for 42 years,boasts being the secondperson to jump the northface of the Eiger moun-tain in Switzerland.

He also owns a BASEcompany called Tailoredfor Survival and he saidhe actually built some ofthe first BASE rigs backin the ’80s.

“I was lucky to get intostunts in Hollywood,” hesaid.

Viletto said he scored$20,000 to be a stuntdouble for Wesley Snipesin the movie “Drop Zone.”

He has done stunts forseveral movies, including“The President’s Man,”where he doubled forChuck Norris.

Viletto is well-knownamong the skydiving andBASE jumping crew, asnearly everyone whopassed stopped to askhim for tips and advice.

For more informationabout Bridge Day, visitwww.officialbridgeday.com.

DAREDEVILSContinued from 1A

She was riding the busdown to the bottom of thehill to meet her daughterafter her jump. “I’m sonervous. I’m not sure if Iwant to watch.”

The bus ride solved herproblem for her, though —she didn’t make it downthe hill in time to see thejump, but Leventrybreathed a sigh of relief af-ter receiving a text fromher husband, letting herknow that Lisa was on theground, safe and sound.

“We’re from Pennsylva-nia. This is our first timeat Bridge Day. Mydaughter is a WVU stu-dent is how she heardabout the event.”

As for whether herdaughter will be makingfuture jumps, Leventrysaid, “If she does it again,don’t tell me!”

At the bottom of thehill, jumpers fresh with ashot of adrenaline cours-ing through their veinscouldn’t help but yell“Woo hoo!” or “That wasawesome!” after theymade their landing.

“I’m having a blast,”said Rose Marie Riter,aka “Grandma Rose.”

Although Riter was aspectator this year, she’shad a taste of skydivingherself.

“I so envy them. I lovewatching them enjoylife,” she said with a hugesmile on her face.

“I took my first jumpon my 70th birthday.”

She described skydiv-ing as “exhilarating,” butshe said the BASEjumpers have to be “a lit-tle insane.”

She was watching a fewof her friends make thejump Saturday, and she’sbeen coming to BridgeDay since the very firstone back in 1980.

Riter hails from Hunt-ington and has takenseven tandem jumps atWest Virginia Skydivingin Barboursville.

“They call me Grand-ma Rose and I alwaysbring the B&B — brown-ies and beer.”

She said her doctorssuggested that sheshouldn’t take a solo sky-dive or she would havegotten her license a fewyears back.

“They keep telling meeven though my mindthinks it’s 19, my body is-n’t.”

Now Grandma Rose istrying to plan what crazyadventure she’s going totake for her 80th birth-day, which she said is ap-proaching soon.

“Maybe we’ll have arocking chair marathonand talk about whatwe’re going to do whenwe grow up.”


FAMILIESContinued from 1A

Democratic Sen.William Laird, chairmanof the Senate Natural Re-sources Committee, seesfree entry to the parks as atradition that deserves tobe honored. West Virginiais among a few states thatdon’t charge an entrancefee to state parks.

“It’s a way to givesomething back to thepeople in the form ofrecreational activitiesthat might not otherwisebe available to the peo-ple,” Laird, the Senatemajority whip, said in arecent interview.

The parks do chargefor staying at theirlodges, cabins and camp-sites. Overnight visitorslast year totaled 800,000.

Chelsea Ruby, spokes-woman for the state De-partment of Commerce,whose responsibilities in-clude the parks system,said the lack of an entryfee is “a policy we’re

proud of and it’s wonder-ful for our visitors.”

“But it means we forgo amajor funding sourceavailable to state parks inmost of the rest of thecountry.”

As a result, West Vir-ginia park officials oper-ate tight budgets thathave caused needed re-pairs and maintenance topile up, she said. Parksare in need of power lineupgrades, new roofs,heating and air condition-ing repairs and pavementresurfacing, she said.

Hunter Boshell ofHuntington is a fan ofthe state’s biking trails.

“The mountain bikingin West Virginia is amaz-ing,” he said before a longride with a friend atBeech Fork State Park.

Boshell said he wouldaccept paying an entrancefee if the money was usedfor upkeep at the parks.But he would have prob-lems with one if “you don’tsee anything for it.”

Lindsey Garretson ofCross Lanes, who waswatching her three chil-

dren ride bikes in ameadow at Beech Fork,said she probably would-n’t go to the parks as of-ten if the state chargedan entrance fee.

“You can bring yourkids down and have agood time and not haveto worry about paying toget in,” she said.

Mindful of the gap be-tween available fundingand maintenance needs,parks officials are prepar-ing a system-wide assess-ment of the most crucialprojects, Ruby said. Com-merce Department officialswill present a proposal toGov. Earl Ray Tomblin tohelp catch up on mainte-nance and ensure suffi-cient future funding forparks, she said.

Lawmakers also aredelving into the issue.They’ll discuss finding arevenue source for repairand maintenance work.The parks, have a $38.7million budget, financedin part by general rev-enue and lottery fundsalong with self-generatedmoney.

PARKSContinued from 1A

F. BRIAN FERGUSON/THE REGISTER-HERALD

A lone BASE jumper takes the plunge on a foggy Bridge Day Saturday.





BRIDGE . . . . . . . . 10E

CALENDAR . . . . . . . 7A



DEAR ABBY . . . . . . 4E

DEATHS . . . . . . . . . 6A

HISTORY. . . . . . . . . 6E


NEWS OF RECORD . 8A

OPINION . . . . . . . . . 4A

SPORTS . . . . . . 1D-8D


STOCKS . . . . . . 3B-4B


INSIDE TODAY

Sunny.


WEATHER

B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3













See PARKS, 8A

























See DAREDEVILS, 8A



SPO

RTS,

1D

MO

NEY

,1B

INSI

DE



UP


B R I D G E D A Y 2 0 1 3

23-inch CyanMagentaYellowBlackR-H Page XX Jumps



Yesterday’s high 58°Yesterday’s low 41°Record high 81° in 1938, 1908Record low 19° in 1930

Precipitation (period ending 6 p.m. yesterday)

Sunrise today 7:38 a.m.Sunset today 6:40 p.m.

• For statewide fishing reports on-line, visit: www.wvdnr.gov/fishing/weekly_fishreport.shtm

• For the latest river and stream reports, which are updated at 8 a.m. each day

by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, phone the following numbers:

Bluestone Lake 304-466-0156Lake, New River, Greenbrier River information

Summersville Lake 304-872-5809Lake, Meadow River information

R.D. Bailey Lake 304-664-9587Lake information

• SIX-DAY FORECAST • W.VA. FORECAST

• SEVERE WEATHER, ROAD CONDITIONS

• LAKES, STREAMS, FISHING LOTTERY

To report severe weather, call the National Weather Service toll-free

at 877-633-6772

Current weather and alerts on-line:www.WVVA.com

West Virginia road conditionswww.transportation.wv.gov or

877-WVA-ROAD

www.register-herald.com

• NATIONAL FORECAST

• ALMANACLast 24 hours

Traceinches

For year32.50inches

For month0.81inches

Daily 3: 4-1-8 Daily 4: 1-3-0-7Hot Lotto:05-13-17-31-32Hot Ball: 16Est.: $1.05 million

Powerball:9-33-54-56-57Powerball: 5Est.: $186 million

O1SUD451

She’s no stranger toskydiving, though — she’sbeen doing it for nearlyfour years and she hasjumped 350 times. Shesaid her friends convincedher to try BASE jumpingand she’s glad they did.

A group of five friends,from Russia, Ukraine andLithuania, all makingtheir first BASE jump,came to Bridge Day forthe first time this year.

“It was so cool. It wasabsolutely unbelievable,”35-year-old AndreMarenich said.

He said he was prettynervous in line waiting tojump and even morenervous when he slippedon his start.

That slip from the startturned into a flip, so hesaid his first BASE jumphas an awesome story be-hind it.

“It’s our first time inWest Virginia,” addedHelen Ursachii, 29.

She said she especiallyenjoyed the view whilecoasting down after herfreefall.

Three friends fromNew Jersey, who werepart of a skydiving com-pany called Cross Keys,geared up to make ajump together Saturday.

James Russell, 29,Nick Giraldo, 23, andLinda Hoehman, 24,

were also impressed bythe gorgeous view at theNew River Gorge. Theysaid they were drawn toBridge Day because ofthe opportunity to jumpoff such a tall bridge.They hope to somedaymake a jump in Switzer-land and Greece.

“It’s legal bridge jump-ing!” said Mike Esposito,25, of Florida. “It’s awe-some!”

Esposito has 730 sky-dives under his belt andwas all smiles aftersmoothly landing hisjump. This year markedhis third year jumping atBridge Day.

Alex Girard, 35, ofCanada, said this was hisfirst time making a jumpat Bridge Day, but he’sbeen skydiving for threeyears and has racked up275 jumps. He’s only beenBASE jumping for abouttwo months, but he’s al-ready made 32 jumps.

“It’s exciting,” Girardsaid. “There’s alwaysnew stuff to try.”

He said Saturday hewas going to attempt hisfirst backflip while BASEjumping.

Many first-timers andamateurs made the bigleap Saturday, but a fewof the jumpers were well-seasoned.

Jack Corcoran, 72, ofSterling, Va., has made15 jumps off the NewRiver Gorge Bridge, andtook his first jump atBridge Day back in 1986.

He has taken an im-pressive 2,000 skydivesin his time, the first backin 1961, and he has alsoracked up nearly 40BASE jumps.

“It’s just a hobby. I’vejumped in Arizona andTexas. I can’t explain it, Ijust do it.”

The jumper with themost impressive resumewould most likely be MoeViletto, of Pittsburgh. “IfI live through today, I’llbe 62 tomorrow.”

Viletto, who has beenskydiving for 42 years,boasts being the secondperson to jump the northface of the Eiger moun-tain in Switzerland.

He also owns a BASEcompany called Tailoredfor Survival and he saidhe actually built some ofthe first BASE rigs backin the ’80s.

“I was lucky to get intostunts in Hollywood,” hesaid.

Viletto said he scored$20,000 to be a stuntdouble for Wesley Snipesin the movie “Drop Zone.”

He has done stunts forseveral movies, including“The President’s Man,”where he doubled forChuck Norris.

Viletto is well-knownamong the skydiving andBASE jumping crew, asnearly everyone whopassed stopped to askhim for tips and advice.

For more informationabout Bridge Day, visitwww.officialbridgeday.com.

DAREDEVILSContinued from 1A

She was riding the busdown to the bottom of thehill to meet her daughterafter her jump. “I’m sonervous. I’m not sure if Iwant to watch.”

The bus ride solved herproblem for her, though —she didn’t make it downthe hill in time to see thejump, but Leventrybreathed a sigh of relief af-ter receiving a text fromher husband, letting herknow that Lisa was on theground, safe and sound.

“We’re from Pennsylva-nia. This is our first timeat Bridge Day. Mydaughter is a WVU stu-dent is how she heardabout the event.”

As for whether herdaughter will be makingfuture jumps, Leventrysaid, “If she does it again,don’t tell me!”

At the bottom of thehill, jumpers fresh with ashot of adrenaline cours-ing through their veinscouldn’t help but yell“Woo hoo!” or “That wasawesome!” after theymade their landing.

“I’m having a blast,”said Rose Marie Riter,aka “Grandma Rose.”

Although Riter was aspectator this year, she’shad a taste of skydivingherself.

“I so envy them. I lovewatching them enjoylife,” she said with a hugesmile on her face.

“I took my first jumpon my 70th birthday.”

She described skydiv-ing as “exhilarating,” butshe said the BASEjumpers have to be “a lit-tle insane.”

She was watching a fewof her friends make thejump Saturday, and she’sbeen coming to BridgeDay since the very firstone back in 1980.

Riter hails from Hunt-ington and has takenseven tandem jumps atWest Virginia Skydivingin Barboursville.

“They call me Grand-ma Rose and I alwaysbring the B&B — brown-ies and beer.”

She said her doctorssuggested that sheshouldn’t take a solo sky-dive or she would havegotten her license a fewyears back.

“They keep telling meeven though my mindthinks it’s 19, my body is-n’t.”

Now Grandma Rose istrying to plan what crazyadventure she’s going totake for her 80th birth-day, which she said is ap-proaching soon.

“Maybe we’ll have arocking chair marathonand talk about whatwe’re going to do whenwe grow up.”


FAMILIESContinued from 1A

Democratic Sen.William Laird, chairmanof the Senate Natural Re-sources Committee, seesfree entry to the parks as atradition that deserves tobe honored. West Virginiais among a few states thatdon’t charge an entrancefee to state parks.

“It’s a way to givesomething back to thepeople in the form ofrecreational activitiesthat might not otherwisebe available to the peo-ple,” Laird, the Senatemajority whip, said in arecent interview.

The parks do chargefor staying at theirlodges, cabins and camp-sites. Overnight visitorslast year totaled 800,000.

Chelsea Ruby, spokes-woman for the state De-partment of Commerce,whose responsibilities in-clude the parks system,said the lack of an entryfee is “a policy we’re

proud of and it’s wonder-ful for our visitors.”

“But it means we forgo amajor funding sourceavailable to state parks inmost of the rest of thecountry.”

As a result, West Vir-ginia park officials oper-ate tight budgets thathave caused needed re-pairs and maintenance topile up, she said. Parksare in need of power lineupgrades, new roofs,heating and air condition-ing repairs and pavementresurfacing, she said.

Hunter Boshell ofHuntington is a fan ofthe state’s biking trails.

“The mountain bikingin West Virginia is amaz-ing,” he said before a longride with a friend atBeech Fork State Park.

Boshell said he wouldaccept paying an entrancefee if the money was usedfor upkeep at the parks.But he would have prob-lems with one if “you don’tsee anything for it.”

Lindsey Garretson ofCross Lanes, who waswatching her three chil-

dren ride bikes in ameadow at Beech Fork,said she probably would-n’t go to the parks as of-ten if the state chargedan entrance fee.

“You can bring yourkids down and have agood time and not haveto worry about paying toget in,” she said.

Mindful of the gap be-tween available fundingand maintenance needs,parks officials are prepar-ing a system-wide assess-ment of the most crucialprojects, Ruby said. Com-merce Department officialswill present a proposal toGov. Earl Ray Tomblin tohelp catch up on mainte-nance and ensure suffi-cient future funding forparks, she said.

Lawmakers also aredelving into the issue.They’ll discuss finding arevenue source for repairand maintenance work.The parks, have a $38.7million budget, financedin part by general rev-enue and lottery fundsalong with self-generatedmoney.

PARKSContinued from 1A

F. BRIAN FERGUSON/THE REGISTER-HERALD

A lone BASE jumper takes the plunge on a foggy Bridge Day Saturday.

Btridge dayt10 20 all wh bu

Documents