Welch - Football players in maroon and white took the field in McDowell County Friday night, bringing back old memories for residents of Welch, some of whom also wore the colors of a school long closed.
As pre-production for upcoming Hollywood motion picture "The Glass Castle" began Thursday, residents in Welch posed as extras at Vic Nystrom Stadium decked in maroon and white just as it would have looked at a Welch High School football game.
"The Glass Castle," a 2005 memoir written by Jeannette Walls, tells the life of a young girl growing up in a poor, nomadic family.
Walls, played in the film by Academy Award-winning actress Brie Larson, attended Welch High in the 70s before moving to New York her senior year.
"We go back in time, back in the 70s. What was there to do Friday night? Everybody went to the ball game," said Mary Osborne, Welch High School Class of 1973. "Your family and kids all went."
Though the high school no longer exists - it was consolidated in the late 70s with Gary and Northfork high schools to form Mount View High - the production crew began filming Thursday and Friday in Welch to capture some key location shots where some of the film's real-life story takes place, circa 1977.
"Everyone seems extremely excited for them to be here," said Ed Evans, Mount View High School's athletic director. "They were filming yesterday with a drone camera."
For the stadium scene, Mount View football team portrayed Welch High, while Riverview High School players were cast as the opposing team. Mount View players and cheerleaders traded in their brown and gold uniforms for maroon and white uniforms on loan from Concord University.
Those who attended Welch High during the time period wore their letterman jackets and t-shirts in the spirit of the occasion.
"When Jeannette started writing the book she called me" said Mount View cheerleading coach Cathy Jack. "She said she didn't have any pictures of herself so she wanted to borrow my yearbook."
Jack still has a picture of the two in Little League cheerleading outfits.
"Jeannette was real friendly and smiled a lot. She kept a lot hidden, evidently, about what was going on in her life," Jack said.
Walls' experience in Welch wasn't always positive. Classmates remember her being top of the class and coming from a colorful family. In the book, she describes growing up poor with her mother, an eccentric artist, and her father, an alcoholic who filled her and her siblings' heads with grand dreams.
Jack said many of the town's residents were thrilled about the production crew coming to Welch.
"Everything is real negative down here," said Jack. "We need some positive stuff in this community."
Locals who recall going to Welch High during the time period remember when the McDowell County town was booming with jobs.
"It's a depressed area but the people who are left here love it," said Judy Nystrom. "We're still here because we want to be."
Nystrom was a cheerleader herself. Her husband Vic, for whom the stadium is named, was a legendary football player and coach for Welch.
"This is a very close-knit community and it was a great place to grow up for us," Nystrom said. "The pride in this town was unbelievable."
The movie, starring Larson, Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts, is set to release in 2017 by Lionsgate. The book spent 261 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list sold more than 2.7 million copies.
Reach Jennifer Gardner at jennifer.gardner@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5102 or follow @JennC_Gardner on Twitter.