The fifth annual Mountaineer Brewfest, a celebration of West Virginia’s finest craft and microbrews, will be held Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Heritage Port in Wheeling. Festival hours/admission vary according to type of ticket: VIP entry ($75), 3 p.m.; general admission entry ($35), 4 p.m.; festival ends at 10 p.m. Designated driver tickets are also available. West Virginia samples available at this year’s festival include: Berkley Springs Brewing, Big Timber Brewing (Elkins), Bridge Brew Works (Fayetteville), Chestnut Brew Works (Morgantown), Greenbrier Valley Brewing (Lewisburg), Morgantown Brewing, Mountain State Brewing Co. (Thomas), Brew Keepers (Wheeling), Parkersburg Brewing, Sophisticated Hound Brewing (Princeton), Swilled Dog Hard Cider (Franklin), Weathered Ground Brewing (Cool Ridge) and Wheeling Brewing Company. Entertainment lineup includes: MSM performing during the VIP session, with The Train Jumpers, The US Kids and The Stickers on the main stage. www.mountaineerbrewfest.com
OVER THE EDGE
YWCA’s Over the Edge 2018 is set to begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. Partnering with Over the Edge Global, the YWCA Wheeling and its participants will be rappelling off the hotel portion of Wheeling Island Casino-Racetrack to raise funds and awareness for women and children. 304-232-0511; www.ywcawheeling.org
THIRD FRIDAY
The Bridge and Tunnel Collective in collaboration with Artworks Around Town will present two acts at Third Friday, Aug. 17 — Love and Data at 8 p.m. and Weird Lightning at 9 p.m. The shows will take place outside Artworks on the north porch area (weather permitting). Open mic is from 7-8 p.m. Love and Data will be making its 3rd Friday debut. Nate and Amber Musser are passionate about their craft and are becoming well-known in the local music scene. They started playing music in the basement of their home after their children were finally settled in bed for the night. Weird Lightning returns after their debut at the New Faces night last year. Wheeling natives, Bethany Decker and Joshua Bommer formed Weird Lightning in the fall of 2016. They are expanding their musical scene in the area with their original, electronic beats. There will be concessions for sale. The Steubenville Art Association has artwork in the Studio Gallery while art from Laughlin Chapel’s enrichment camps is featured in the North Gallery. Artworks Around Town islocated at 2200 Market St., Wheeling.
LOUNGE LIZARD MYSTERY
The final public performance of Mystery Theatre Unlimited’s original musical comedy murder mystery, “Murder at the Kit Kat Klub,” will be presented at 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at River City Restaurant in Wheeling. Featuring nine hilarious song parodies, audience participation and a murder mystery to solve, the show centers upon a down-and-out club owner, a love-conflicted exotic dancer, a strange Austrian body-builder and dueling lounge lizards. 304-233-4555; www.MysteryTheatreUnlimited.com
‘FARCE OF HABIT’
The Brooke Hills Playhouse opens the final production of its 47th summer season at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, presenting “Farce of Habit,” Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten’s sequel to last summer’s popular Playhouse production of “Farce of Nature.” The fast-paced comedy runs at 8 p.m. Aug. 17-18 and Aug. 24-25, with 2 p.m. matinees Aug. 19 and 26. 304-737-3344.
SUMMER MUSIC SERIES
- Phil Dirt & the Dozers (oldies), Oglebay Summer Concert Series, 7-9 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 19, Oglebay’s Anne Kuchinka Amphitheater, Wheeling.
- Artists on Call (“Movies in Melody”), Toe-Tappin’ Tuesdays, Too, 7-9 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 21, Wheeling Park Amphitheater, Wheeling. 304-234-3838
- The M-80s (pop and rock favorites), Wheeling Waterfront Wednesdays, 7-9 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 22, Heritage Port, Wheeling.
PRESIDENT GRANT PAYS A VISIT
President Ulysses S. Grant will visit the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20, through the powerful performance of living history impressionist Ken Serfass. A professional re-enactor and educator from Gettysburg, Serfass will bring the great Union general and 18th president of the United States to life, focusing this program on Grant’s years in the White House. This special event is aimed at adults and students. Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth J. Serfass is a Pennsylvania native who joined the USMC in 1984. His final tour was with the First Marine Division Band during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired from the Marine Corps in July of 2004 to become a music teacher. Serfass has been appearing as Grant since 2009, including performing in a History Channel production in 2010, “Lee & Grant,” and in 2013 for an HBO series “Family Tree” in an episode set at a re-enactment. The Moundsville Library is located at Fifth and Tomlinson in Moundsville. 304-845-6911.
W.VA. FLYING CORPS
Spoken word performer Judi Tarowsky will tell the story of the W.Va. Flying Corps, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Louis Bennett Jr., West Virginia’s only World War I fighter ace, at Lunch with Books, at noon, Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the Ohio County Public Library. As the U.S. entered World War I, a young West Virginian founded a flying corps to train young men for aerial combat. A tract of land along the Ohio River, north of Wheeling, was the site for the West Virginia Flying Corps. The site is overgrown now, but in the summer of 1917, it was alive with the engine of the Curtiss JN-4D, the Curtis Jenny, as pilot trainees learned to fly so they could go into service of our country in World War I. Tarowsky is a member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Attendees are welcome to bring a bag lunch, and complimentary beverages are provided. 304-232-0244; www.ohiocountylibrary.org
CALL IT A CAB
Can you discern the difference between a coveted Napa cabernet and a price-friendly central coast one, or a Napa cab from a Sonoma cab? Give your wine skill sets a test with this blind tasting at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, when Good Mansion Wines will present six to eight selections of California cabernets from different areas and price points — all wrapped up in brown paper — to taste and to guess which is which. The labels will be revealed at the end. Wines will be served with cheeses and baguettes. $15 at the door, no reservations needed. Occupancy limited to 40. www.goodmansionwines.com
ON THE BIG SCREENS
• Free Summer Drive-In Movies continue Friday, Aug. 17, with “Remember the Titans.” Grab a parking spot in front of the Wheeling Park White Palace at dusk for an old-fashioned drive-in experience. 304-243-4085.
• The City of Wheeling will host the final movie night of the summer at 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 17, at Warwood’s Garden Park. The featured movie will be Disney Pixar’s “Coco” and is free of charge.
