The White’s Have Only One Regret about Moving to Calhoun County, Not doing it sooner

Don’t be deceived by the outdoor setting and the blue tarp that so many of us are accustomed to throwing over the back of a pickup truck or a yard sale table. It wasn’t an ordinary tarp, and it wasn’t an ordinary evening when I interviewed another new family in Calhoun, three generations of White’s. Gene and Aryeh, (Father and son) and Amanda, Aryeh’s wife, Eli and Verdis their two young sons.

The dwelling that we sat in was a Sukkah. A hut-like structure in which one sleeps, eats, and communes, during Sukkot. The sukkah’s purpose is to commemorate the time the Israelites spent in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt. The White family are Jewish. One of very few Jewish families that I’ve had the honor of being friends with. We sat in the Sukkah on a beautiful fall evening in October, drinking the finest black tea heated with a Samovar that sat in the middle of the table. It was poured into these beautiful cups and served with pastries, and it was such a joy!

For those who know me and my Christian faith, you can believe that this was as much a treat for me as if I had sat in a Jewish temple. The conversation was easy as the White family shared their story of how it came to pass that a New Jersey, Jewish family would end up in the hills of Calhoun County where the nearest synagogue is over an hour drive. Which they attend by the way! We began our chat, as I often do talking scripture. Old Testament of course, for which Aryeh spoke both in Hebrew and English the prayer on the door posts of Jewish homes in remembrance of the angel of death passing over the Jewish homes and not killing the first born when the blood was applied (Exodus 12).

The White family originated from Ukraine, but by the end of World War 1, Aryeh said their family was either in the United States, or likely killed. Their family history is deeply instilled in their lives and they’re bringing up the little ones to know it as well. Ellen White’s family was from Eastern Europe and the White family came over on the Mayflower. Aryeh’s Great-Grandfather was not Jewish. He had acquired some neighboring land on Sandridge from Cokey Gainer’s grandparents, who told his Grandfather that, if he worked it for a certain number of years, he would have that tract as an inheritance. The years were interrupted by his service in WWII, but after recovering from his time as a POW, his grandfather completed the time and owned the land. He came down at various times to maintain, hunt, and, on a few occasions, farm that land. He brought Aryeh there many times as a young boy to help him, and Aryeh fell in love with the land. Gene had felt no connection to it, so he gave the land to Aryeh.

But that is only the tip of a very large iceberg that brought the White family to Calhoun.

Gene White was brought up in Akron, and became a Glass artist in the glass industry there. But the recession hit and he lost his job so he began looking for another by calling what he thought was Pilgrim Glass Corporation in West Virginia. A very well known glass factory that operated from 1956 to 2002. But the phone call didn’t go to West Virginia, it was routed to New York. A circumstance that worked out well for Gene because he had fallen in love with a girl named Ellen from New Jersey. He received a quick interview and the company wanted to immediately hire him, but he said he must ask his wife. So they offered him higher wages. Three times he told them he must speak with his wife and three times they increased the offer, to include paying for his commute from New Jersey. The plant was located in Ceredo, but the corporate offices were in New York, on 5th Avenue and 26th Street. It was a time when all the store fronts of New York were filled. Jobs were abundant for the upper echelon of people, not so much for the bottom. Crime and violence became a major issue in both New York and New Jersey, a problem that never stopped growing.

Life in New Jersey became more and more difficult as crime and antisemitism toward the Jewish population grew. Gene said he was spry enough to escape it many times when he was young but as he aged, not so much.

A part of the issue in New Jersey came because of the Insurance industry. No fault insurance became the norm for policies. They raised the rates and the city created laws that made it almost impossible to survive as a working class family. An accident was almost always ruled as a two party fault; it was illegal to resolve the accident without the insurance companies involvement, which raised your rate. People grew resentful over everything. The city passed more and more laws; it was even illegal to do minor car maintenance in your drive way, you would be fined for conducting a business. Insurance was 2 1/2 times the cost of insurance in West Virginia for liability alone. Tolls and fines were increased. $14.00 to go into Manhatten, Over $20.00 in tolls to go to Staton Island.

In Rahway, New Jersey, where the White’s lived, there was no local news. No way of finding out local information. No news of where rapes or crimes were committed. Gene’s wife Ellen was chased and attacked. Gene attempted to catch her attacker, but lost him. When he received word of where he might have gone, he ran there, unarmed. Before he knew it a brick was slammed into the the side of his head. A hospital stay, a metal plate in his head and New Jersey was seeming less like home. For 30 years they had stayed. He loved the job in Ceredo where he worked from 1979 until the plant closure in 2001. He said it was the saddest day of his life. When they shut down the furnaces, which breathed fire like a dragon, it was like listening to someone take their last breath.

He was once again unemployed with a young son and crime worsened. His wife convinced him to take Aryeh to a Martial Arts Class. When he did, he became interested in it himself and ended up being an instructor. He now is a 3rd degree black belt and Aryeh is a first degree. 98% of those who took the class were Jewish. Violence against the Jewish residents increased. Again Gene was attacked, spit on, chased by three men. He went home and got an iron pipe for self defense. Also considered an illegal weapon in New Jersey.

The years had passed and Aryeh was now married to Amanda. Together they’d purchased an Electric Motor shop. Amanda was a teacher and money was adequate. Six weeks after he bought the business, hurricane Irene hit and water was knee deep in his shop. Hurricane Sandy hit one year later. But still Aryeh was doing well in his business as the number one seller of Winco portable generators. They had corporate clients, and then in 2016 the building his business was housed in sold. Aryeh ended up buying a building across town. He unfortunately became a political adversary of the Mayor. The building he had purchased had a space for a tenant. The City fined Aryeh $100.00 month for not having a tenant. He was forced to have an architect draw plans for a counter already constructed, the city demanded repairs to the building but rejected every permit. When it rained sewage and rain water filled the basement, the ceiling joists needed repaired, he found an architect willing to trade rent for repairs, but those permits were rejected as well. He was reported to the fire department for having flammables improperly stored, which they did not find upon inspection, but they did find his floor joists and demanded the building have no one in it. The city threatened him with $2,000 fines if he entered back in his building, even to repair it. He met customers on the sidewalk, until the city told him that was illegal too and barricaded the front of his building. He fell further and further into debt. Taxes on their home was $12,500.00. Taxes on their business was over $8,000.00 annually.

He found a buyer for the building after 1 1/2 years of trying to sell it, but the city continued to plague him until the building engineer whispered addresses into the ears of the city. Addresses that he knew were on the take with city staff. The building was sold out of foreclosure and Aryeh and Amanda White were done with New Jersey. He told Gene he was going to West Virginia to live on the farm at Sandridge. Gene was not sold on the idea. Until one day he stood looking up at the sky in West Virginia, seeing the sunrise in the hills and he thought, ”you’ll have to pay for this view in Jersey. Here it’s free.”

The night before they moved from New Jersey there was a stabbing murder in front of the elementary school. Aryeh too had experienced Antisemitism. A man threatened to kill him with a machete over a hover board calling him a Jew bastard. A car almost hit him as he crossed the street. Aryeh said he struck at the side glass and said to himself. ”This city causes too much anger, it’s screwing me up.” Drugs were everywhere, condoms all over the street. Drug laws had changed to the point that the police could no longer enforce anything against marijuana.

They were finalizing there plans and Gene’s wife Ellen had a doctor’s appointment, but the streets were barricaded off because of work. When he asked an officer if he could pull his car in front of the house, he had startled the officer and he went for his gun, even the police were on edge in the city. It was definitely time to move to West Virginia.

One week after their arrival in West Virginia, Ellen White passed away due to a heart attack.

I asked the White’s if they had any regrets in moving to West Virginia, to which they said, ”Only that we didn’t do it sooner.”

It’s difficult to imagine that only a few State’s away, Americans suffer in such a way. But it’s what drove the White’s to not only move to Calhoun County, (although they live on Mt. Zion Ridge, not Sandridge) and it’s what caused them to become a part of the community by involving themselves in politics and government. They don’t want a repeat of New Jersey. And they know that it only takes good people doing nothing, to allow wicked people to overrun the community. Gene is retired and plans on renewing his love of artistry again.

Aryeh continues to work their new property, and Amanda is one of our newest teachers at Calhoun Middle High School.

Their story caused me anxiety just writing it. Thinking of the treatment that they received and the fear that came from living in a town so corrupt. I’m so happy they’re here with us. A journey of several years, but a worthwhile wait.