Canoeing is just one of many river activities on the Mon.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, at West Virginia University, partnered with InnerAction Media to produce two videos that showcase Morgantown, Fairmont, Star City and the surrounding areas along the Monongahela River.
The Monongahela River, known locally as the Mon, is 130 miles and runs from North Central West Virginia to Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“The Mon River is a space where families and friends can spend time together. Unfortunately, this community asset is underutilized,” said Anna Withrow, a redevelopment specialist at WVU’s Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center. “Our first goal was to educate the community on this vast resource sitting in their backyard; our second goal was to make outside visitors aware of what our Mon River towns have to offer.”
From kayaking and biking, eating good food and drinking thirst-quenching craft beers, to spending quality time with the family at an outdoor community event featuring live concerts, there are many ways to prove that the river is not only safe but fun for all ages.
The Morgantown Area Paddlers club enjoys an evening on the Mon near Star City.
The promotional videos will be used to bring attention to the many activities, restaurants and outdoor happenings for people to enjoy along the Mon. The companies and institutions worked together, spending months and many hours editing footage, including aerial views from a drone.
“The Mon River is so under-appreciated and underutilized. During production, I felt inspired to get out and do more on the river. Talking with people, setting up video shoots and getting out there to see what people are doing made me realize how much the river and surrounding area truly have to offer and how easy it is to access. I hope watching the video has the same effect on viewers,” said Liza Heiskell, IAM video producer.
The Abildso family, featured in the first video, pose with their paddleboards before heading out to the river for filming.
-WVU-
aw/08/22/19
CONTACT: Anna Withrow, WVU Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center304.549.3930; amwithrow@mail.wvu.edu
Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.
To embed video
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/350201292?color=F67C23&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/350201292">Mon River Towns | Morgantown</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/inneractionmedia">InnerAction Media</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
The West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center was created in 2005 by the West Virginia Legislature to empower communities to implement Brownfield’s redevelopment projects. There are two centers that promote economic development and environmental and public health protection, and they provide training and technical assistance to facilitate site preparation, engage in community involvement, and help communities with grant writing and leveraging project funding.
One of the locations, the Northern West Virginia Brownfields Assistance Center, is a program at the West Virginia Water Research Institute, housed at the WVU Energy Institute in Morgantown. The center serves the northern 33 counties with collaborations extending statewide.
Mon River Towns helps communities to recognize the river as an asset around which potential community and economic development can occur, being a resource that needs to be protected. The goal of this initiative is to improve the prosperity of communities, businesses and neighborhoods in distressed regions; to introduce the concepts of outdoor recreational market growth, sustainable development, conservation, and environmental sustainability; and to attract new businesses and jobs to the area. The River Towns Program was developed by Pennsylvania Environmental Council and McCollom Development Strategies LLC, in 2010.
InnerAction Media is a marketing and advertising agency located in Morgantown, West Virginia that started in 2011. IAM serves companies in West Virginia, the Pittsburgh DMA and surrounding areas. InnerAction Media strives to help businesses grow, guide through the noise of today’s media chaos to deliver clear, simple and compelling brand stories and marketing strategies.