She was nominated for the honor by Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society president Paul Mellott.

The award named Allemong as a hero for her outstanding work and significant contribution in the preservation and promotion of West Virginia History. It was accepted on her behalf by Delegate Charles Trump since Allemong was unable to attend the ceremony at the Cultural Center in Charleston.

Allemong also received a letter of congratulations from Governor Bob Wise, and a Legislative Citation from Delegate Trump.

"I feel very humbled by all this," she said.

Allemong is a charter member of the historical society, which was formed in 1977. At one time or another, she has filled every one of the club's offices.

In addition, Allemong wrote a book about the Ruppenthal family and co-authored one about the Habermeh/Hovermale family.

The historical society has published numerous volumes on Morgan County families and history including Morgan County and its People, and Allemong worked on many of them.

She became interested in genealogy when she was asked to write a history of her family in the 11th grade. Since her father, Floyd Ruppenthal, was also interested in the subject, her curiosity was strengthened.

"You didn't need to do much research when the community was smaller," Allemong said. "I knew almost everyone, especially on this side of Great Cacapon, having grown up and taught here for 24 years."

She still does her genealogical and historical work every day, using a computer to speed up the process. She entered the computer age 10 years ago when owning a personal computer was still unusual, especially for a person who is now in her 80's.

"Two of my sons are Certified Public Accounts, and they helped me with it," she said.

The Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society has about 150 members, but only 25 are active. Allemong said the society would like more members who are willing to work on its publications.

The group maintains a collection on the second floor of the Morgan County Public Library. It is staffed by volunteers Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon or by appointment, and is open to anyone wanting to do research in genealogy and local history.

The collections include marriage, birth and birth certificates, the 1880 National Census, the Morgan County Census from 1850 to 1920, and The Morgan Messenger and other county newspapers on microfilm from 1880 onward, and individual volumes on Morgan County families.

There is also information about families in Berkeley and Jefferson counties since family lines are spread throughout the Eastern Panhandle. The library also contains some oral histories on cassettes.

"We have overflowed our space and had to use one stack in the main part of the library," Allemong said. "But we are hoping the library will let us have a larger section there soon."

Joann Harris volunteers on Mondays because "the society needed someone, and I like to help people." She said that if anyone has a finished history of their family, the society would be happy to have a copy in their collections.