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CHARLESTON, W.Va., May 8, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- West Virginia officials plan to mark West Virginia Day this year in a special way -- with the introduction of the of 927-page West Virginia Encyclopedia.
The West Virginia Humanities Council plans an official unveiling on June 20, which happens to be West Virginia Day, the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette reports.
The book -- all 927 pages of it -- includes celebrated West Virginians like Patch Adams, founder of the Gesundheit! Institute, and notorious disasters like the Buffalo Creek Flood.
The compilers started in 1997 with a list of 600 entries. That swelled to 3,000 entries, an unwieldy figure pruned to a bit more than 2,000.
"We had no idea it would be such a big project," Ken Sullivan, executive director of the Humanities Council, said. "If we realized what we were biting off, we might not have tried it."
The book costs a hefty $44.95. The council hopes to get a copy into every library and school in the state, a goal helped by corporate donations. They also hope that West Virginians will snap up some of the press run of 10,000, allowing them to indulge in some West Virginia pride at home.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
