BERKELEY SPRINGS — From handmade quilts and LEGO sculptures to river health exhibits and local youth rock bands, the 23rd annual Morgan County Expo brought a vibrant mix of community pride and student creativity to downtown Berkeley Springs over the weekend.
Spread across Berkeley Springs State Park, the Ice House and other nearby venues, the expo served as a showcase for the county’s young people, nonprofit groups and volunteer-led programs. The day serves as Morgan County’s annual county fair, giving local 4-H members a chance to show off the year’s work without having a county fairground.
“When you say fair to people, well, they expect animals and they expect rides,” said Cindy Smalley, an agent with WVU Extension. “We went to the expo in hopes that people would understand.”
While animals usually aren’t a part of the fair, one family decided that their collection, a category in the annual 4-H competition, would be chickens.
“We were expecting you know, little chicken figurines, and when it showed up, it was real chickens,” Smalley said.
The expo’s roots stretch back over two decades, beginning in a cafeteria at Widmyer Elementary before outgrowing the space. After brief stints at Berkeley Springs High School and the Morgan County Senior Center, the event found new life outdoors following a pandemic hiatus. Since relocating to the park, attendance and participation have steadily climbed.
Inside the Ice House, more than 100 exhibits lined the walls, showcasing award-winning entries from local 4-H members and community youth. Categories included photography, flower arranging, horticulture, food preservation and even LEGO engineering. Additional displays were housed at Hunter’s Hardware, a local business that has partnered with the expo since the pandemic to expand exhibit space.
Out in the park, over two dozen nonprofits set up informational tables, offering educational activities on topics like agriculture, water conservation and the WVU Extension’s new LEGO robotics club. Children buzzed between booths, collecting stickers, pamphlets and free books. Live music carried through the trees, as Black Cat Music Cooperative hosted a rotating lineup of youth performers on the main stage.
While the event is technically coordinated by the WVU Extension, Smalley emphasized that the credit belongs to the wider community.
“We couldn’t do it without them,” Smalley said. “I’m very, very thankful for a community that works together and supports events like this for all of our kids in our county.”
