WEEasked some simple questions — and your neighbors, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, even some strangers, answered. Get to know them a little bit better with our fun series, “WEEasked.” Look for it a couple of times a month, most likely on Mondays. Do you have someone you’d like to see featured? Send us an email to weelunk@weelunk.com, and please be sure to put WEEasked in the subject line.
Judi Hendrickson is just one of those people who is involved in everything … in her job, in many area events and in the community. A true “people person,” she’s a writer, a teacher, a volunteer and a speaker — just to name of a few.
Wheeling’s own Miss Manners or Emily Post, Judi can tell you what to wear to that wedding coming up or which fork to use when. She writes an entertaining etiquette column for the Wheeling newspapers, and she teaches business and society etiquette.
She is a first-person presenter of numerous significant women of Wheeling and other topics of local interest. She has co-authored “Walking Pleasant Valley, Revisiting the Homes and Lives of Silk Stocking Row” and is working on a second book, “Walking Woodsdale.”
Always lending her expertise, she serves on local non-profit boards including the Friends of Wheeling and West Virginia Independence Hall. She also participates in many other non-profit organizations such as the Wheeling Symphony Auxiliary, The Genealogical Society, Wheeling Area Historical Society and The Frick Society of Pittsburgh.
For her “real job,” Judi works in the Academic Affairs office at West Virginia Northern Community College. Previously, she was the special events coordinator and volunteer liaison for Crittenton Services in Wheeling and was employed by the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, where she served as educational outreach liaison.
Here is what Judi answered when WEEasked:
What’s your favorite Wheeling neighborhood and why?
I love North Wheeling. I am totally convinced that in a past life I was a Victorian lady. The architecture of the buildings, the streetscape and the amazing interiors of the homes are beyond beautiful. I picture Victorian ladies and gentlemen walking the streets wearing beautiful day dresses and men in top hats and suits. The revitalization of the neighborhood by dedicated homeowners has brought a deteriorating neighborhood back to its original splendor.
Tell us something that would surprise Weelunk readers about you.
I used to be the flag girl, standing between two cars at drag races in Shadyside in The Narrows.
What book is on your nightstand or e-reader right now?
I rarely ever read fiction. There is too much information that is real that I want to absorb. I just started the book, “Women of Privilege: 100 Years of Love and Loss in a Family of the Hudson River Valley” by Susan Gilotti.
Brunch or dinner? Which is your favorite meal out? Why?
I love food, so bring on breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, and I will be there.
Where do you take out-of-town visitors?
I love our city. I enjoy driving visitors through our historic neighborhoods made up of so many architectural styles of homes from the beautiful Victorians to the large mansions, Queen Ann, Colonial Revival and the unique Lustrons. Of course, we are fortunate to have beautiful Oglebay and Wheeling parks to show off. Oh, the unique little restaurants we have. Great menus featuring everything from Buffalo burgers to delicious French crepes. As we drive, I, of course, I share our rich history until my passenger(s) eyes are glazed over.
What is your wish for Wheeling?
I would love to see downtown Wheeling become an area known for its small unique shops, cafés and a relaxing, artsy atmosphere somewhat like Las Olas Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. We already have wonderful suburbs, great schools and colleges, and a very safe environment for our children and families. Many of us who are in our 60s or older keep looking for reasonable housing as our homes are now too large for us to manage. The new downtown apartments, even though wonderful, are not what we are looking for. We need one floor, larger living space, not tiny little boxes and limited green space, where we can plant our beds of flowers and sit on the porch.
