Fall Conference

Herbal First Aid

NEW LOCATION:

Richwood Community Center

20 Avenue B, Richwood, WV 26261

Keynote Speaker:

7Song

7Song is a clinical herbalist, teacher, and naturalist. In 1981 he began studying plants and herbal medicine and has been engaged and fascinated by them ever since. He started the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine in 1992 where he has been the director and primary teacher. He is one of the founders and a clinical herbalist at the Ithaca Free Clinic, which is an integrated free clinic offering both conventional and holistic modalities. 7Song is a Russian Jew, originally from Long Island, NY, but has been in Ithaca, NY for over 30 years. Along with teaching and clinical work, he enjoys identifying and photographing plants and other critters. 

Herbal First Aid for the Home

This class will cover some beneficial plants and herbal preparations to have around the house for first aid, including burns, asthma, and wound care. It will include Appalachian plants such as Lobelia, Yarrow, and Yellowroot. The goal is to provide practical information to prepare a herbal home healthcare kit. 

Appalachian Medicinal Plants

This class will look at a wide range of plants that grow in Appalachia and how they can be used medicinally. These include Black cohosh, Elder, Wild yam, Witch hazel, Butterfly weed, Calamus, Black birch, Hydrangea, Wintergreen and others.

Fall Conference: Herbal First Aid

Join us to learn about the herbs to fill you medicine cabinet with

📅 Saturday, September 19th, 2026
⏰ 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

📍Richwood Community Center

20 Avenue B,

Richwood, WV 26261

Having a few go-to herbs in your home medicine cabinet helps you feel more prepared for life’s everyday bumps, bites, scrapes, and discomforts. 🌿

When you know which herbs to reach for — and how to use them safely — you can support your family with more confidence instead of feeling rushed, overwhelmed, or unsure in the moment.

What You Will Learn

Join us for a day of herbal education, connection, and community at Herbal First Aid, the West Virginia Herbal Association Fall Conference.

This year’s conference is centered on practical herbal first aid, bringing together herbalists, plant lovers, and lifelong learners to explore how herbs can support everyday health and emergency care.

You’ll:

🌿 Learn from experienced herbalists on topics like wound care, burns, bites, fevers, and immune support


🌿 Discover how to build and stock your herbal first aid cabinet


🌿 Explore practical ways to use herbs for home, family, and community care


🌿 Attend engaging lectures and demonstrations focused on herbal first aid


🌿 Network and connect with fellow herb enthusiasts from across West Virginia


🌿 Share knowledge, stories, and experiences in a welcoming herbal community

Learning Paths

At Herbal First Aid, we welcome herbalists at every stage of their journey. To support different levels of experience, the conference is organized into three learning paths:

🌱 Beginner Path – A strong foundation in herbal first aid, covering the basics of safe, simple, and effective home use of herbs

🌿 Intermediate Path – For those ready to expand their knowledge with deeper herbal strategies, systems thinking, and practical application

🌳 Advanced Path – For experienced herbalists seeking more complex understanding, advanced case-based learning, and refined herbal practice

Speakers For the Fall Herbal First Aid

Herbalist and educator who blends Western herbalism with Ayurvedic wisdom to help people use herbs with more confidence. Through her online community, Journey on Nature’s Path, she teaches practical, safe, and simple ways to bring herbs into daily life without confusion.

Website: https://www.journeyonnaturespath.com/

🍃Mary-Heather Fajardo🍃

Class: Herbal Energetics:

Why the Same Herb Can Help One Person and Hurt Another.

In herbal first aid, the same herb may support one person while making another feel worse. This class explains how herbal energetics can help you choose safer, more appropriate herbs for concerns such as pain, inflammation, stress, digestive upset, and minor injuries.

🍃Eugene Breza🍃

  Colloidal silver will be made in plain sight, the simplest the way known, so that anybody can make a lifetimes worth

(for personal use) for under $50!

     The multiple use possibilities will be discussed... How it will kill every single celled organism there is... bacteria, fungus and virus.  Three or four handouts will be available. Two ounce bottles will be available for $10.

3-Part Class on the

Herbal First Aid Kit

🍃Jennifer Hoyer🍃

Class: Herbs for a Home Grown Medicine Chest:

Part 1

Raised in a family with deep PA Dutch agricultural roots, Jen Hoyer developed a love of plants, gardening, and traditional herbal wisdom that continues to shape her life today. Through her studies in herbalism and wholistic nutrition, her personal experience using herbs to support digestive wellness, and her involvement with the West Virginia Herb Association, she is passionate about helping others rediscover the role of herbs in everyday health.

🍃Roy Ramey🍃

Grow First-aid in the Forest and Fields 

Roy Ramey is a small farmer in Cabell County, WV where he raises livestock and practices forest farming. As a retired military officer and educator, he spends much of his time continuing to educate others through homeschooling and teaching about agriculture practices. In forest farming, he produces maple syrup as well as medicinal and edible herbs in his steep and rugged forests on his farm. He is married to his lovely wife Fran and together they have a wonderful teenage daughter.

🍃Bette Angle🍃

Class: Creating Herbal First Aid Kit

18 year Master Gardener, retired Army, Author of award winning book Herbal Teas, Unlocking the flavor and Medicine. Studying and using herbs for over 40 years due to her illness. Speaks around the state on herbal and Native cooking. Teaches Wilderness Survival for 4H camps.

Website: grassycreekfarm.com

🍃Rebecca J Wood🍃

Making and Using Hydrosols for Herbal First Aid

Currently Rebecca provides wellness services and workshops as the proprietor/practitioner of Hopewood Holistic Health/Holistic Journeys. Her certifications and experience include; Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP), Aromatherapist, E-RYT 500/YACEP Yoga Instructor, & CEU provider, Advanced Myofascial Release (MFR) practitioner, Master Herbalist and Reiki Master and a Shinrin-yoku Forest Therapy practitioner.

🍃Jessica Delaney🍃

Plantain Salve for First Aid

My name is Jess and I have been studying and practicing herbal uses for 3 years. This year I started a business all about two things: helping people and nature. I make herbal teas, salves, lotions, jellies, tinctures, and so much more. I want to help others help themselves.

🍃Mallory Markowicz🍃

Maiden, Mother & Crone: Balancing

Herbs for Cyclical Bodies

Mallory Markowicz is a clinical herbalist and an intuitive healing practitioner that’s passionate about West Virginia and Appalachia. As the founder of Backyard Botanicals in Hancock County, West Virginia, she is dedicated to preserving Appalachian plant knowledge while helping others reconnect with their own healing power.

www.organicbackyardbotanicals.com

🍃Melissa Dennison🍃

Seed Saving Class

(Heritage and Heirloom Seeds)

 Certified Master Gardener 32 years. HERB MEMBER 30+ years. State Garden Club member 25 yrs.  4H leader.  Active community member.  Also. Im going to have a video TV set up. I have video of Herbalist catfish Gray man of the woods. I taped in 1995  and several others WV herb people.  Also surrounding state. 

🍃Mark S Myers🍃

Herbs, The use of the Earth Treasures in the

Use of Chiroptic Practice


This discussion will clarify exactly what a Chiropractor is, what our focus is when working with the body; that is improving communication over the nervous system and how the nervous system controls and coordinates everything. Chiropractors in West Virginia are allowed to support our adjustments in many ways. The use of herbs and other supplements can be extremely valuable in stabilizing body systems and allowing balance in the body to be restored. I will discuss why what I do is not “alternative medicine” but instead supporting body system and discuss why and how I do this using many things, including herbs, in my practice.

I am Mark S Myers, DC. I have been a chiropractor and applied kinesiologist in West Virginia for over a third of a century. I have practiced in Calhoun and Roane Counties since I took over the practice of the infamous Dr. Michael Lebowitz in 1992

More Speaker information COMING SOON

Become a member

here to get the discount!

Not a member yet? This is a beautiful time to join and become part of West Virginia’s herbal community.

Come Ready To:

✔ Learn
✔ Make
✔ Share
✔ Connect
✔ Be inspired

Spring Fling is more than an event — it’s a celebration of herbs, nature, and community.

We can’t wait to gather with you in the park

Join Our Membership Now
For a Discount

Vendors for the Conference!

Share your herbs, handmade products, wellness services, or nature-inspired creations with conference attendees.

Vendor space is limited, and only a few tables are still available. Be sure to reserve your table soon before they are gone!

Sign up today to secure your spot.

1 Table for $30 and 2 tables for $50

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Places to Stay

Traveling to Richwood for the West Virginia Herb Association Fall Conference?

Richwood is a small mountain community, so lodging is limited and may fill quickly.

You’ll find motel rooms, cottages, cabins, and vacation homes in and around Richwood.

Additional hotels are available in Summersville, approximately 30 minutes from the Richwood Community Center.

We recommend reserving your accommodations early.

In or immediately around Richwood

  1. Four Seasons Lodge — regular motel rooms; about 1–2 miles away

  2. The Guest House — two-bedroom furnished house

  3. The Nutt House Cottage — sleeps four; Wi-Fi and kitchen

  4. Cherry River Cottage — two bedrooms; sleeps four

  5. Oakford House — four bedrooms; sleeps nine

  6. Cranberry Basecamp — four bedrooms; sleeps eight

  7. Cranberry Mountain Getaway — two-bedroom cabin; sleeps six

  8. Crews Cabin by the Falls — four-bedroom luxury cabin; sleeps eight

  9. Cozy Mountain Hideaway — cabin with Wi-Fi; sleeps at least four

  10. Southside Memories — large house; sleeps eight

  11. Logger’s Landing — small cabin just outside town

  12. Bartlett Bear Haven Camp — two-bedroom cabin

  13. Coal Siding Cabin — two bedrooms; sleeps six

  14. 304 Paradise — vacation rental in Richwood

  15. The Front Porch Inn — entire house; sleeps eight

Tea Creek Campground

Tea Creek Campground is a spacious 28-site campground is tucked away at the intersection of the Williams River and Tea Creek. This campground is a recreational hub of the area. Each camping site is equipped with a parking spur, picnic table, fire ring with a grill, waste receptacle and a lantern hookup. Visitors are encouraged to use the three bear-proof trash cages located throughout the campground during their visit. 

Directions

From Marlinton take US Route 219 north, 7 miles to Route 150, which is the Highland Scenic Highway. Turn left onto Route 150 and drive approximately 9 miles to the Williams River Bridge turnoff, located on the left. Turn left at the stop sign onto Forest Road 86 and drive 1 mile. The campground is located on the right. There is also a parking lot provided for day use and picnicking. 

There is also camping available at Tea Creek Campground, about 20 minutes away. Campsites are $10 per night and include access to bathrooms. This is dry camping, so there are no water, electric, or sewer hookups.

The Richwood rentals numbered 6–14 are listed on the Richwood Chamber lodging page.

Hotels in Summersville—approximately 30 minutes away

  1. SureStay Hotel by Best Western — breakfast and Wi-Fi; often around $95 total

  2. La Quinta Inn & Suites — breakfast, Wi-Fi and indoor pool; around $110–$125 total

  3. Hampton Inn Summersville — hot breakfast, Wi-Fi and fitness center

  4. Super 8 Summersville — frequently around $90–$100 total

  5. Sleep Inn Summersville — breakfast, Wi-Fi and parking

Best simple one-night choice: Four Seasons Lodge.
Best inexpensive traditional hotel choices: SureStay or Super 8 in Summersville.
Best for several association members sharing: Oakford House or Cranberry Basecamp.

Explore Richwood While You’re Here

Richwood is more than just the home of this year’s West Virginia Herbal Association Fall Conference — it’s a gateway to some of West Virginia’s most beautiful forest lands, rivers, trails, waterfalls, and mountain views.

Known as a gateway to the Cranberry Wilderness, Richwood offers easy access to outdoor spaces that make the conference feel like more than a one-day event. It’s a chance to learn, connect, and enjoy the beauty of the Monongahela National Forest while you’re in town. The Mon Forest Towns Richwood page highlights nearby places like Cranberry Backcountry, Falls of Hills Creek, and Summit Lake as outdoor destinations near Richwood.

🌿 Cranberry Backcountry

A beautiful area for hiking, biking, fishing, camping, hunting, cross-country skiing, and quiet time in the forest. This area offers remote valleys, trout streams, and access near the Cranberry Wilderness. The Cranberry Wilderness spans more than 47,000 acres within the Monongahela National Forest and includes remote backcountry, river drainage, and higher-elevation Appalachian terrain.

👉 Explore Cranberry Wilderness:
Cranberry Wilderness — USDA Forest Service

💧 Falls of Hills Creek National Scenic Area

A perfect stop for nature lovers, hikers, and plant people. Falls of Hills Creek features a scenic forest trail leading into a narrow gorge with three waterfalls, including one of the highest waterfalls in West Virginia.

👉 Explore Falls of Hills Creek:
Falls of Hills Creek — WV Tourism

🌊 Summit Lake Recreation Area

A peaceful mountain lake near Richwood with opportunities for fishing, boating, camping, hiking, and beautiful mountain views. The USDA Forest Service describes Summit Lake Campground as a 33-unit semi-primitive wooded campground located about 10 miles from Richwood beside a 43-acre cold-water fishing lake.

👉 Explore Summit Lake:
Summit Lake Campground — USDA Forest Service

And that’s just the beginning! Richwood has even more to explore, from local history and small-town Appalachian charm to nearby outdoor recreation, trails, rivers, and scenic stops. 🌲

👉 Check out more things to do in Richwood here:
Town of Richwood, WV

Directions to

Richwood Community Center

20 Avenue B, Richwood, WV 26261

From the west: Off of I 79 get on US Rt. 19, Heading South on US Rt. 19, off of

Powell’s mountain get on Rt. 150 East. In Craigsville take a right on Rt. 20 South on into

Richwood.

Off of I 77 in Beckley get on Rt. 19 to Summersville, then coming from either

direction get on Rt. 41 East or Rt. 39 East. Rt. 41 will take you to Rt. 150 which will take

you to Craigsville… then in Craigsville take a right onto Rt. 20 South into Richwood. Rt.

39 will take your right into Richwood.

From the east: Out of Elkins get on US Rt.219n Off of US Rt. 219 South, Or off of I

64 in Lewisburg get on US rt. 219 North either way, get on Alt. Rt. 150 East through

Cranberry Glades, then off the mountain into Richwood.

Keep Herbal Knowledge alive.