Mariah Harrison
Mariah Harrison grew up in Fayetteville, WV with her family who own Whitewater Photography, a 20+ year locally owned and operated business. Growing up in the whitewater industry, Mariah loves the outdoors and the beauty of the New River Gorge.
Mariah attended Mountain View Christian School and graduated from Lee University in Cleveland, TN in 2012 with a double bachelor’s in public relations and marketing. She worked for Make-A-Wish for a year before returning home to West Virginia. Absolutely sure that she wanted to be back in the mountain state but not sure what she wanted to do, she began working for the Wedding and Events team at Adventures on the Gorge. Mariah knew from day one this was what she wanted to do and since then has furthered her career in the wedding and event industry. She has 9 years of experience in her field, and in January 2023, Mariah made the decision to join the Summit Bechtel Reserve’s Business Development team as their Wedding and Event Specialist. She is thrilled about her new career and the opportunities the Summit Bechtel Reserve has to offer.
Mariah loves spending time with her husband and one-year-old son, exploring the outdoors, and shopping (a little too much). She has volunteered for several non-profit organizations and served on multiple boards. She is currently a board member of the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Mariah puts great value in volunteering for her community and is enthusiastic about dancing for United Way. She believes her enthusiasm and spunky personality will bring home the trophy this year!
Lewis Rhinehart
I am a native of Baltimore, MD but spent my formative years in South Central Pennsylvania, graduating high school from the Red Lion Area Senior High. I have been visiting Southern West Virginia since the early 90’s and have been a full time resident since the early 2000’s. I have been in the restaurant industry since I was 17 and purchased my first restaurant, Baker’s Pizza in Red Lion, Pennsylvania when I was 23 years old. During that time I visited Fayetteville often and became friends with the owners of the then very young Pies and Pints. Twelve years later when I sold my pizza place, I moved to West Virginia permanently and took on a management role at Pies and Pints. Towards the end of my time at Pies and Pints, David and Tashia Bailey started Secret Sandwich Society in 2010. I purchased the Fayetteville location in November of 2012 and operated there until a tragic fire burned our historic building to the ground in November 2020. We have since rebuilt and at the time of writing are very close to reopening!
West Virginia is an incredible place and I love seeing the state and our region grow and prosper! Now with our National Park designation, Southern West Virginia is poised for greatness and we now have the ability to show the rest of the world what we have to offer!
I have three children, Austin 28, Cora Joy, 18 and Zeb Matthew 13. We are all avid skiers and snowboarders, skiers and lovers of the outdoors especially spending time on the New River and Summersville Lake! They all had a good chuckle when I told them I was participating in Dancing With The Stars, so I’m here to show them Dad can dance!