Intern spends summer with park records
By PAMELA BRUST, pbrust@newsandsentinel.comPARKERSBURG - When Oak Hill, Ohio resident Kristi Murphy came to spend the summer with her aunt in Parkersburg, she never dreamed she'd learn the entire history of one of the local parks.
Knee-deep in boxes of record books, agendas, files, minutes, financial statements, letters and newspaper stories relating to Mountwood Park, Murphy, 19, a journalism major at Ohio University, started work in June, her last day is Sept. 5.
"I'm compiling every Mountwood Park file they could find, putting them in chronological order and scanned everything in so they can eventually put it online and the public will be able to access to it through the Web site," she said.
The records and paperwork collected date back to the opening of the facility.
"There were a lot of public letters, and a lot of letters seeking financial support for the park. I was supposed to be working on the airport files and records too, but it appears I won't have time to do that now," Murphy said.
"We'd eventually like to get all the records online so they can be accessed by the public. At some point there shouldn't be any need for a Freedom of Information Act request then, all the information would be available online and accessible to the public" Commissioner Blair Couch said.
Murphy said she found her summertime assignment interesting and enlightening.
"I had to go to the library and go through the old newspapers and find the articles about the park also. There was a lot of controversy at some points, for the most part, it's been interesting," Murphy said. "I didn't know exactly what county commissioners were, I'd heard of them, but I didn't know what they did, so I've learned a lot being here. I didn't really know what to expect coming in, but I've really enjoyed my summer working here, and everyone in the courthouse has been really nice," she said.
Murphy said she's interested in a career in magazine writing, graphics and enjoys photography.
County Administrator Marty Seufer said there is no projected date yet for when this information will be available online.
"We are in the midst now of getting a new Web site," Seufer said. The new site is in the design phase. The county's current Web site (www.woodcountywv.com) is online and will remain online until it is replaced by the new one.
Seufer said part of of Murphy's assignment was to match park records with the newspaper articles from the various timelines and events at the park.
"We're using it also as a kind of test program, eventually the idea is to get all the records online," Seufer said, noting that is going to be a very time-consuming undertaking.
