Band of Brothers member and photographer Al Tucker says the Band of Brothers West Virginia calendars are selling like hot cakes, so get yours before they're gone!

Who’s left on your shopping list? Band of Brothers calendars featuring idyllic West Virginia scenes make the ‘picture-perfect’ present

BUCKHANNON – If you’ve been waiting to purchase a picture-perfect present for a West Virginia-loving family member while simultaneously supporting Upshur County youth, don’t wait too much longer.

The Band of Brothers Calendar Sale has sold almost 900 out of their 1,000 calendars, which feature breathtaking photos from various locales around the Mountain State.

Band of Brothers member and photographer Al Tucker said the Band of Brothers are a group of 15 Christian men who represent about seven different churches that try to help the youth of West Virginia. The annual calendar fundraiser goes toward all their projects to help youth programs.

“I have been doing a calendar of West Virginia for about 10 years and for most of that time, I initially did them for family and friends and I wasn’t selling them and some people at my church at Chapel Hill saw them and said ‘I would like to buy one,’ and so I said, ‘Well, I’m not out to make money one these,’ but they still said they would like to buy one,” Tucker said. “I started selling a couple hundred and just staying within the confines of their church, and whatever money that I made out of selling, it all went to the mission projects.”

He said a member of their church told Tucker several years ago he should expand on the calendars and make it a wider fundraiser.

“We said, ‘well let’s give it a try,’ and so four years ago we were facing the destruction of those awful floods down in southern West Virginia, and we thought ‘well, you know there’s people going to have a hard Christmas down there,’” Tucker said. “We started selling calendars and getting quite a few donations, and we were able to take Christmas presents.”

With the funds they raised from selling the calendars, they were able to take boxes of food and Christmas presents to Clay, Webster and Kanawha counties.

“It was such a blessing to be able to do that, and the following year in Wetzel County they had two weekends in a row they had what they call a hundred-year flood so we went out and helped people out there,” Tucker said. “Those people were so great.”

“Every penny that we make on one of these calendars, it goes to our projects,” Tucker said. “We did a number of things here, the Christmas Store, we funded a backpack program, youth mission groups and we help a couple of missionaries that go to Haiti and Guatemala and those kinds of projects.”

Most recently, the group took $3,000 for parents to purchase school supplies to the town of Harman in Randolph County in August following another flood.

This year, however, the funds are staying close to home and will be earmarked to assist programs that help youth of Upshur County.

“That brought us to this year, and we said, ‘there is a big need in Upshur County, so let’s stay home this year,”’ Tucker said. “We already supported one program in previous years, a local angel tree prison program, so this Sunday, there’s 30 kids whose parents are in jail and they are going to have a Christmas party. They’ll get gifts and they’ll get with the parent in prison and have them write something that will go with the present.”

He said they also plan to support the Christmas Store and backpack programs, as they have in the past, but this year their focus project will be a new program.

“We found out that just an unbelievable number of kids in this county and other counties in West Virginia are being raised by somebody other than their parents because of the drug epidemic,” Tucker said. “We’ve heard it quoted over 50 percent of the kids in the Upshur County School system are being raised by a grandparent or maybe an aunt or something like that, so we’ve heard about a grandparents program that the senior center is in the process of getting started and we decided to make that our major focus.”

To read more about the Healthy Grandfamilies program the Band of Brothers will be aiding, click here.

He said they are still working to decide what the Band of Brothers will do to help this program, but they hope to find out in the following week. Other programs they plan to work with this year include church youth groups, the Stockert Youth & Community Center, Young Life and 4-H.

“There’s just so many kids in this county that need some help, and we’re trying to help them so we’re trying to sell calendars,” Tucker said. “We’ve got 1,000 printed, and we’re just within about 15 to having 900 sold.”

Each calendar costs $15 and features pictures from across West Virginia, including a picture of Upshur County.

He said last year they were able to sell all 1,000 calendars, and the group hopes to meet that goal again this year.

For those interested in purchasing calendars, contact Al Tucker at 304-704-4292, Tim Rock at 304-642-2555, Kevin Hawkins at 304-613-8566, Bill Nicholson at 304-439-4170 or John Simons at 304-613-4063.

Featured

SHOPS & SERVICES

Buckhannon man held on $100,000 bail after being arrested on multiple drug charges

BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested Saturday after several illegal substances were allegedly found in his residence. Bryan Shaw, 41, of Buckhannon, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver heroin, possession with […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Buckhannon City Council approves $6.5 million-dollar budget prioritizing public safety, infrastructure

BUCKHANNON – City council passed the largest budget in Buckhannon’s history Tuesday, with the two largest allocations once again earmarked for public safety operations and infrastructure maintenance, respectively. At its March 14 meeting – rescheduled from March 16 due to […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Police arrest man they say was the driver in 2022 pursuit that ended in a wreck with two people ejected

BUCKHANNON – A Rock Cave man was arrested for allegedly fleeing from police officers in a vehicle, injuring himself and a passenger. Elijah Carpenter, 27, of Rock Cave was arrested Thursday for fleeing from an officer and fleeing or attempting […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

SHOPS & SERVICES

Softball Lady Bucs get one-hit by Lincoln’s Haller in debut in 10-0 setback

TENNERTON – For their season opener, the Buckhannon-Upshur softball Lady Bucs ran into one of the top pitchers in the state in Lincoln’s Delaney Haller. Haller was the Big 10 Conference Pitcher of the Year last season and was captain […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Baseball ‘Cats get home doubleheader split with ABU

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan baseball team split with the Alderson Broaddus Battlers Monday, winning 7-2 in the first game and losing 7-0 in the second game. The bats were alive in Game

Inexperienced tennis Bucs fall in first two outings of 2023 season

BRIDGEPORT – The Buckhannon-Upshur tennis Buccaneers dropped their first two outings of the year last week. They opened their season at home last Thursday with a 7-0 setback to Robert C. Byrd and then went to Bridgeport Saturday and dropped […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Lady Buc netters open season with win over Robert C. Byrd and narrow loss to John Marshall

BRIDGEPORT – The Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Buc tennis team is off to a 1-1 start to the season and was just an eyelash away from being a perfect 2-0. The Lady Bucs hosted Robert C. Byrd last Thursday and won a […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

SHOPS & SERVICES

Working in service: WVU research reaches all of West Virginia

Breakthroughs and research expertise nurtured at West Virginia University extend far beyond its labs, experimental sites and classrooms. In fact, WVU research efforts are unique compared to most universities, according to Vice President for Research Fred King. “While

Fairmont State University selects 2023 Presidential Scholarship winners

Three incoming Fairmont State University freshmen have been selected as the recipients of Fairmont State’s premier academic scholarship, the Charles J. McClain Presidential Scholarship. Sophie Stuart from Jefferson High School (Charles town, W.VA), Hailey Jordan

WVDEP hosting students on World Water Day

CHARLESTON, WV – In an effort to enrich students’ understanding of the importance of clean water, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) is hosting a water education event for area grade schools on