OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – With the increasing amount of people expected to come to our area, the city of Oak Hill Beautification Committee decided it was time to beautify the place we call home. And they plan to do so in several unique ways, starting with bear sculptures.
“The Beautification Commission wanted to do something to make Oak Hill stand out,” says Judy Lively, a chair member for the City Beautification Commission. “So, we decided this would be the perfect project to do for the city of Oak Hill since the black bear is the state animal of West Virginia.”
The committee officials reached out to students in the Forestry program at the Fayette Institute of Technology and a chainsaw carving company called Mason Dixon Boys to carve the bear sculptures and help place them at local businesses and other locations around town. Not only is the project beneficial for the entire community, but specifically for the students, who got a chance to experience a real-world forestry project and were able to hone their wood carving and artistic abilities.
“We’re really excited about our students getting to see another aspect of the forestry industry,” says FIT Forestry Instructor, Pat Bennett. “And now here there’s another kind of artistic approach that students can be associated with.”
The bear sculptures are all different and unique, having a style that specifically compliments the setting the bears are located. And so far, they are fulfilling their purpose of making the town look a little nicer and residents of Oak Hill a little brighter.
“I think the Lord’s working here with some of the people in town and they’re coming together to make this town a lot better than what it was,” says Travis Crook, owner of Mason Dixon Boys.
The Beautification Committee plans to do more projects to further help make the city look and feel nicer.
