Since being elected to public office, Delegate Overington has established and awarded the Winners Award every year or two to an individual or group that has shown exceptional volunteer effort and community service. Winners show positive leadership in dealing with problems. They find solutions in ways to help people and improve the community.

In the past individuals and groups, including volunteer firefighters, Crimesolvers, musical groups, those helping with litter cleanup, animal welfare, road improvement efforts, community beautification, water protection, library support, food bank organizations and promoting local history have been nominated and awarded the Winners Award. If you would like to nominate someone, contact Del. Overington.

Would your child or grandchild like to serve as a page for the West Virginia Legislature? Last year more than 1200 students paged during the 60-day legislative session. This learning experience is open to students ages 10 to 18 during the 60‑day legislative session which will begin on January 11 and conclude March 10, 2012.

Each day before the 11 a.m. legislative session begins, the Page Director provides a 45 to 60-minute training session to walk the pages through the process so they know where copies of bills can be found, where coffee is located and other requests that legislators may have. If someone you know would like to participate, contact Delegate Overington with the student’s and parent’s name, address and phone number as well as the school and grade.

Dear Friends and Neighbors in North Berkeley County,

As we begin a new year, there is pessimism in the country. Promises of transparency, of bringing the country together have instead been replaced by divisive agendas that lack public support. We have lost the feeling expressed by President Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address with “government of the people, by the people and for the people”. And with the presidential election coming up in November, that divisiveness is likely to continue.

However, in Berkeley County there is more optimism. Macy’s is coming with over a thousand new jobs. As the census has showed, we are a growing county. When I moved here in the 1970’s, the population was 36,000 people to officially be 104,169 as of April 2010. You can see the full census information on my webpage.

At the same time I hope we can continue this two-way communication and that you will participate in my upcoming Town Meetings, in completing and returning a Citizens’ Poll, and keeping in touch with your suggestions and ideas. Our government works best when our citizens are active and involved. And I hope you will also participate in some of the other activities I am working on, including nominating someone for my Winners Award, visiting the Capitol and having your children serve as pages, and looking for the largest pine tree.

2011 Highlights

We were successful in getting a new traffic light at the Bedington Crossroads despite delays with the power company and contractor. I was honored to host the 23rd Quad State Legislative Conference in Martinsburg in July where we discussed Macy’s and working together for more regional jobs, status of I-81’s expansion, dealing with the growing drug problem, and regional Civil War activities during this sesquicentennial period. We have much in common with regional legislators from our neighboring states.

Legislative redistricting, completed in August, was an extremely self-serving process (you can read more about that on my web page). Unfortunately, Jefferson County delegates over-rode the meetings and efforts of the Morgan and Berkeley County delegates to create districts that will be expensive to divide into manageable precincts and do not have geographical continuity. Equally unfortunate was the Charleston Democrat leadership of Speaker Thompson, Chairman Boggs and Vice Chairman Caputo who allowed this to happen.

Delegate Eric Householder and I were pleased to honor the Simpson brothers, all seven of them who served in the military, including ones at Pearl Harbor, the invasion of North Africa and elsewhere during World War II. The Rt. 45 bridge over the Opequon Creek is named the Simpson Brothers Bridge to recognize this patriotic family.

Best wishes for an outstanding 2012!

Delegate John Overington

One Large Tree

MARTINSBURG – When Diana Suttenfield submitted her nomination for this year’s Big Tree Contest, little did she know it would set a state record for the largest sugar maple.

She just knew it was big and had probably even seen a lot of local history.

Since this year’s hunt was for the largest sugar maple in the three-county area, Suttenfield felt the tree on her mother’s property – located outside of Shepherdstown – might be a good choice.

“Over the years, people were always telling me that I should get it measured. But I didn’t know how to do it. … So it was really happenstance when I saw an article in The Journal about the Big Tree Contest and I called,” Suttenfield said.

“I do like to think about what this tree witnessed over the years, some of the historic events such as the 1775 Beeline March when the soldiers met at Morgan Springs to march to Boston to meet up with George Washington for the Revolutionary War. … I really do feel very patriotic about it,” she said.

Despite competition from about 30 other entries, Suttenfield’s sugar maple submission won this annual event sponsored by Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, and it was announced at last month’s Eastern Panhandle Conservation District Awards banquet.

At that time, Overington presented her with a $500 check and a copy of Joyce Kilmer’s poem “Trees” – just as he has done for the two other individuals who’ve won since he organized the contest in 2009.

Charles Town resident Dan DeSarno won for a sycamore tree outside Ranson in 2009, and Kaitlyn Price was the winner last year for a Chinkapin oak growing along Shepherd Grade Road.

“I think this contest is wonderful because I think it really does get people thinking about trees,” Suttenfield said.

Herb Peddicord, the state Division of Forestry Chesapeake Bay Watershed forester who helps with the contest, said there’s no doubt this is now the state’s largest sugar maple.

As a result, it will be entered in the state’s database of the largest trees, which now includes 91 species, Peddicord said, adding that the sugar maple is the state tree.

All 50 states have Big Tree Programs, and there also is a National Register of Big Trees, he said.

“This one moved up to the top of the list. … It has already been turned in to the state,” Peddicord said.

No stranger to forestry, Overington originally started the contest in recognition of his grandfather, Fred W. Besley, who was Maryland’s first state forester. Besley started the Maryland Big Tree Contest in 1924 and helped take it nationally in 1940 – an effort that evolved into the National Registry of Big Trees, Overington said.

Overington said he plans to continue this contest next year when folks will be asked to help locate the area’s largest evergreen/pine tree.

“We’re hoping there will be good participation again because this is fairly recognizable for most folks. So we’d like for them to get started looking now,” Overington said.

(Read this story on The Journals Website)

The day before Thanksgiving, the final judgment on redistricting came down from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

The score was Political Class, 1; people of West Virginia, 0.

The court had played politics, protecting the political insiders and elite by a 4-to-1 margin in a decision that will put the public at a disadvantage for the next decade.

Redistricting started out with lofty goals and a fair process with the interests of the people to be paramount. Committee Chairman Brent Boggs, D-Braxton, espoused a process that would come from the local level up, from the counties to Charleston – not Charleston dictating down to the rest of the state.

As someone who had gone through two previous redistricting sessions, I was truly encouraged by this commitment.

However, the first ominous sign occurred when Speaker of the House Rick Thompson, D-Wayne, appointed only four of the designated 10 Republicans that the minority leader had selected.

Instead Thompson chose the other six Republican members himself.

Republicans, making up 35 members of the 100-member House, were entitled to pick at least 10 members of the 30-member redistricting committee.

As far back as I can remember, Republicans always selected their members on committees, as Democrats selected their members.

This is true whether it is state legislatures or in the U.S. Congress. Each side chooses their strongest team to represent them.

But Thompson, in selecting the other six Republican delegates to be on the committee, did not allow the Republicans to choose their own team.

Can you imagine the outcry that would occur if the Pitt Panthers were able to select who could play on the WVU team in the Backyard Brawl?

But this is exactly what Thompson did. With this unprecedented abuse of power, Democrats showed that their commitment to fairness and the public interest was not a priority in the redistricting process.

Next came the pressure to avoid single-delegate districts. The state Chamber of Commerce reported that over three-fifths of the legislators support this good representation tool to give voters more accountability.

The chamber’s 2010 legislative candidate questionnaire stated and then asked: “Research suggests elections would be cheaper and issues explained in more depth if citizens had a legislator who was simply responsible to the voters in his/her district. Do you support single member legislative districts in West Virginia?”

Over 60 percent responded with “Yes.”

Imagine the partisan political pressure on members to have them not honor their written commitment, especially when a plan with 100 single-delegate districts was proposed, including offering to amend the plan if boundaries for the 100 individual districts needed to be adjusted.

Offers to break up several multi-member districts were also rejected.

It will be interesting to see if the chamber and other groups endorse and fund candidates who did not honor their commitment.

A broad cross-section of groups had endorsed the concept of greater accountability and participation through single-delegate districts – from the Farm Bureau, which was also concerned about loss of rural representation, to business groups, pro-family groups, taxpayers and everyday citizens.

At the one public hearing held on the issue, none of the citizens and interested voters testifying spoke against the single-delegate districts. All favored it.

Then came the slicing and dicing of counties and precincts, communities and towns to provide political benefits to the Democrats in power.

Accountability was lost or weakened when communities of interest were split up to avoid incumbents from having to run against each other; or when incumbents schemed to keep potential future opponents out of their districts; or when districts were strung out without any geographical continuity.

My sorrow on Thanksgiving Day was for the people of West Virginia. Lincoln’s statement of government “of the people, by the people and for the people” had instead become Democratic government of, by and for the politicians.

Three petitions challenging the House redistricting plan were filed before the Supreme Court.

The House of Delegates plan is so badly gerrymandered that in many areas it resembles an abstract work of art (e.g. Districts 64 and 65).

The House leadership behind it, Thompson, Boggs and Vice Chairman Mike Caputo, should have hoped their plan would be rejected. Now this monstrosity is their legacy for the next 10 years.

When voters ask how could this have happened, and why some districts look like a Rorschach inkblot test, the answer will be:

It was their baby, Thompson/Boggs/Caputo’s legacy – solidly on their shoulders, a legacy of arrogance, of self-serving politics.

I suspect there will be snake oil salesmen trying to defend the product or saying that if the Republicans were in power they would be doing the same thing.

However, on the Republican side many of us have advocated redistricting being done by an independent board that does not know where incumbents live. This is represented by our own House Bill 2833, similar to what is done in Iowa, where the people are put ahead of the politicians.

The focus would be geographical continuity, keeping communities together for the benefit of 1.8 million West Virginians, not for the self-serving agenda of incumbent legislators.

But ultimately, the people will have their say on whether government is really of, for and by the politicians or its 1.8 million people on Nov. 6, 2012.

Thanksgiving Day is a day of personal thanksgiving for good friends, food and our many blessings. This year it was also a sad day for West Virginia.

With 27 years of service, Overington, a Republican from Berkeley County, is the longest-serving member of the House of Delegates.

(Read this story on the Charleston Daily Mail Website)

Berkeley County was once again West Virginia’s fastest growing county growing by 37.2% over the last decade according to official U.S. Census data. Attached are also charts on our state’s legislative districts changes – Congressional, State Senate and Delegate districts.

Largest Counties and Cities Changes
Congressional Change
County Population Changes
House District Changes
Senate District Changes

Eastern Panhandle Census Data and Redistricting.

Click Here to View or Download this Document.

New light, turn lanes planned in Bedington

October 17, 2010 – By Misty Higgins / Special to The Journal

MARTINSBURG – As one of the fastest growing areas in the state, Berkeley County has the challenge of keeping up with infrastructure needs, including road issues.

Delegate John Overington, R-Berkeley, said Bedington Crossroads is one of those troublesome areas plagued by high traffic volume, accidents and close calls, and it is slated for an upgrade early next year.

Left-turn lanes and a traffic light are part of the plan for the area of U.S. 11 at its intersection with Bedington and Nipetown roads.

Construction is set to begin early next year, Overington said. An e-mail communication forwarded by Overington from Marvin Murphy, state engineer with the Department of Transportation, stated that it is estimated that the project will be advertised by the end of this month for the 2011 federal fiscal year.

“This is an active project, and we don’t see any reason for it to not move forward,” the statement read.

Brent Walker, Division of Highways spokesman, said the project he describes as intersection improvements should begin as scheduled in late December or early January and be completed by June 2011.

“There are no signs that it won’t,” he added.

According to Overington, he has been contacted by many of his constituents who pass through the area and are concerned about safety issues. He noted that growth in terms of new housing developments has increased traffic through the area.

“The biggest problem is in the morning and evening with people meeting at that intersection. People take more risk there than they should,” he said. “There has been a number of accidents there, and the number is increasing. The issue has come up time and time again.”

Kim Barrett, an employee of the Bedington Crossroads store, lives just down the road from the intersection and said it is always difficult to get out onto U.S. 11, especially during peak traffic times.

“That would be really good if they put a light there,” Barrett said.

Joann Sowers, 50, has lived in the area between Bedington Crossroads and Berkeley Station all her life. She travels through U.S. 11 at Bedington and Nipetown roads quite often and describes the traffic situation as “treacherous.”

“You just got to have patience,” she said of attempting a left turn from one of the cross roads onto U.S. 11. “You have to wait your turn and sometimes people take your turn.”

Overington said the planned upgrades have come as a result of citizens who demand change.

“Citizen involvement in their government makes a difference as it has with getting the bridge over Opequon Creek on Scrabble Road or the curve on Grade Road and Nestle Quarry Road upgraded.”

Other road projects that Overington is hoping the highway department will look at include the Grade Road intersection on U.S. 11 as well as at Broad Lane, in Marlowe. He said growth in the area continues at a lesser degree but still presents many challenges.

“I will be keeping on the highway department so there is no further delay with the Bedington Crossroads project. Once we are at the point where it is irreversible, I will put my attention to the Marlowe area. I can see from traffic counts this area has needs for upgrades in infrastructure and highways.”

(Read this story on The Journals Website)

A total of 78 persons submitted 82 entries in my Second Annual Tree Contest to find the largest oak tree in the Eastern Panhandle. My thanks to Sara Wuertenberg and Herb Peddicord for their assistance.

Kaitlyn Price from Hedgesville was the winner who received the $500 check. This Shepherd University senior found the tree in the Shepherdstown area off Shepherd Grade Road. Next year’s contest will focus on finding the largest maple tree in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties. You can start looking now….

With the enthusiasm generated last year in finding the Eastern Panhandle’s largest tree, Del. John Overington announced he is continuing the contest. For 2010 he is looking for the largest oak tree in Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson Counties as a way to encourage the identification of different species of trees. Similar to last year he will donate $500 to the person or landowner who can find the area’s largest oak tree measured by its height and its diameter a few feet off the ground. The winner will also receive a copy of the poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer.

In last year’s contest 56 people submitted over 60 entries in seeking to find the largest tree in the Eastern Panhandle including Dan DeSarno who submitted the winning entry, a huge sycamore tree outside of Ranson, that was over 20 feet in circumference.

Conservation District Education Outreach Specialist Sara Wuertenberg (contact her 304-263-4376 ×116 with your entry) and Forester Herb Peddicord will again assist in compiling and evaluating the entries. Submit your entry by June 15, 2010 with the circumference of the tree at 4 feet above the ground and estimate the height.

Over the years Del. Overington and his wife JoAnn have planted thousands of trees. His grandfather Fred W. Besley was Maryland’s first state forester. He served in that capacity for 36 years (1906-1942) becoming the nation’s longest serving state forester, launching the Maryland Big Tree Contest.

Delegate John Overington presented his 15th “Winners Award” to Barry R. Rude at the Spring Mills North Berkeley Library on December 3, 2009. The award is given to a person or group committed to helping others, who gives time and energy to make the community a better place. Barry was nominated by Cheryl Rodgers.

“Barry has provided many hours of volunteer service using his professional expertise in architectural and engineering building projects to assist in making the Spring Mills-North Berkeley Library Branch become a reality. I am convinced that without his assistance we would not be standing here in this library filled with books, computers and staffed five days a week,” Overington stated.

“We are indebted to Barry’s spirit of community service that has helped make this happen. That dedication is what this Winners Award is based on: seeing a solution as a way to overcome a problem for the benefit of all.”

Barry has also been active in assisting Boy Scouts and in promoting local areas with community identification signs such as the one on Rt. 11 for Marlowe. He and his son were instrumental in getting the welcome sign installed and assisted with signs in other communities as well.

Barry and his wife Susie live in Falling Waters. He epitomizes the motto of “Good, Better, Best, Never let it rest, ‘Till your good gets better and your better gets best!’” .

Since being elected to public office, Delegate Overington has established and awarded the Winners Award every year or two to an individual or group that has shown exceptional volunteer effort and community service. Winners show positive leadership in dealing with problems. They find solutions in ways to help people and improve the community.

In the past individuals and groups including volunteer firefighters, Crimesolvers, musical groups, those helping with litter cleanup, animal welfare, road improvement efforts, community beautification, water protection and food bank organizations have been nominated and awarded the Winners Award.

The last Winners Award was presented in 2007 to Cheryl Rodgers, tireless advocate and volunteer for library services for the northern part of Berkeley County, a regular volunteer for the Berkeley County Historical Society, and an active officer and supporter of the Falling Waters Battlefield Association.