WEELUNK BOOK REVIEW: Appalachia North — A Memoir Christina Fisanick August 1, 2020 Appalachia, even to us West Virginians, seems at times like a foreign place. Appalachia is over there, not here. Appalachians are them, not us. In reality, Appalachia, as defined by the Appalachian Regional Com...
WEELUNK BOOK REVIEW: The Third Rainbow Girl — The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia Christina Fisanick July 11, 2020 West Virginia’s history is often not well represented in books that tell stories from our hills and valleys. In The Third Rainbow Girl: The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia, Emma Copley Eisenberg buck...
Not Her First Quarantine Christina Fisanick April 25, 2020 This is not my first quarantine. In the sweltering August heat of 1979, my family and I, along with our entire trailer park neighborhood in Moundsville, were on lockdown for two weeks. Although 14 days...
COVID-19: Teachers Continue to Encourage, Motivate and Educate Christina Fisanick March 23, 2020 As the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the world, the United States has had to take make some difficult decisions about ways to keep as many people healthy as possible. At this point, the key strat...
WOMEN IN HISTORY: Wheeling Women Rewrite History Books Christina Fisanick March 6, 2020 Editor's note: Throughout March — Women's History Month — Weelunk will feature stories about women who have made history and women who are making history. “Libraries are full of ideas — perhaps the most dang...
WLU’s Rare Book Returns Home Christina Fisanick November 11, 2019 We stood around the podium topped with a glass case like mythical giants peering down at tiny humans, and for me, the moment felt just as magical. It was 1994, and I was in the Nelle M. Krise Rare Book’s Room a...
Wheeling to Host Inaugural Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia Christina Fisanick September 4, 2019 Downtown Wheeling has been chosen as the site for the first-ever Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia (WCoNA), where workshops, presentations, roundtable discussions and literary readings will take place F...
Jewish Community Celebrates 170 Years of Worship Christina Fisanick July 31, 2019 Following the second wave of Jewish migration to the United States during the 1840s-80s, the early Jewish community in West Virginia was comprised mainly of German and other central European Immigrants. German ...
The Invisible Epidemic: Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Christina Fisanick July 23, 2019 Editor's note: The goal of our Our Hope in Recovery series is to shed light on various diseases, conditions and ailments, in an attempt to help others who are struggling. I was 27 years old and halfway throu...
Celebrating Juneteenth Wheeling Style Christina Fisanick June 18, 2019 Many Americans probably believe that once President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that all slaves were set free and lived happily ever after. In reality, the road to freedom for most e...
‘Rithmetic Genius Born in Ohio County — Go Figure Christina Fisanick May 29, 2019 Most people can remember their parents or grandparents talking about the three R’s of schooling: reading, writing and arithmetic. These three subjects were the foundation of early education throughout the Weste...
People’s University Uncovers the Obscure McLure Christina Fisanick May 19, 2019 Editor’s note: The Ohio County Public Library has launched its 26th People’s University, an eight-week series featuring weird, wild, wacky, whimsical stories from Wheeling, including: Native-American oddities, ...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The 21st Century Marriage Saver Christina Fisanick May 11, 2019 When Hazlett and Irene (Miller) Cochran built what would later become my Edgwood home in 1926, marriage looked quite a bit different than it does today. By this time, Margaret Sanger had won her lawsuit in N...
Wheeling Country Day School: Celebrating 90 Years of Learning Christina Fisanick March 22, 2019 “To empower students to think, to create, and to communicate in a nurturing environment where learning and character are paramount.” — Wheeling County Day School’s mission 1929 was an epic year in Wheeling, We...
Skating Through History: An Ohio Valley Tradition That’s Alive and Well Christina Fisanick March 5, 2019 You can ask just about anyone who grew up in Wheeling about how they spent their winter weekends from childhood through adolescence, and they will likely have the same response: ice skating at Wheeling Park. It...
The Presidential Allure of the Hotel McLure Christina Fisanick February 18, 2019 When hotel clerk Howard Finley first saw Wheeling’s McLure not long after it re-opened in 1896 following renovations, he exclaimed, “Gee, ain’t she a whopper!” By that point, the donut-shaped structure had witn...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Sledding in the Ohio Valley — A Family Tradition Christina Fisanick January 26, 2019 1 It was the first snow of 2019. Two inches or so covered the lawns and sidewalks throughout Wheeling with a bit more on the outlying hills. Like most kids, my 7-year-old son sprang out of bed that frosty morning...
Wheeling Leaves Its Mark on Twain Christina Fisanick January 11, 2019 On Jan. 10, 1872, one of America’s most celebrated storytellers took the stage at Wheeling’s Washington Hall. An Intelligencer reporter described him as “a youngish-looking man of somewhere about thirty-five, n...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Christmas Tree Prey for Praying Mantises Christina Fisanick December 29, 2018 When I woke up that morning, they were everywhere. Hundreds of tiny insects were swarming in the dim morning light of my dining room and kitchen. They were climbing the walls, clinging to the ceilings, and edgi...
Twelfth Night Ball Celebrates Past, Looks to Future Christina Fisanick December 26, 2018 The great City of Wheeling turns 250 years old in 2019. Yes, Wheeling is older than the United States. It was founded by the Zane family when Virginia was still a colony and seven years before the Declaration o...
Weelunk Writer Takes Readers on a Sparkling Tour of Oglebay Christina Fisanick December 16, 2018 Everyone who knows me knows that I love all things Oglebay — the history, the lakes, the lodge, the rolling hills. And yet up until this year, I had all but sworn off the Festival of Lights. That is, until I wa...
Wheeling’s Generous Philanthropists Provide for Future Christina Fisanick November 27, 2018 EARL W. OGLEBAY Each time I walk through the Oglebay Mansion Museum, I stop in front of Earl W. Oglebay’s portrait and thank him. He is not there. I know that, but I feel so much gratitude for the incredibl...
To All the Halloween Babies Like Me Christina Fisanick October 31, 2018 At 6:01 a.m. on Oct. 31, 1973, little old me came screechin’ and bawlin’ into this world. Yes, I am a Halloween baby and that fact — one of the only sure things I know — has shaped my life in interesting ways. ...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The Pleasure of the Sunday Drive Christina Fisanick October 14, 2018 Once cars became more affordable in the 1920s and ‘30s, families began to enjoy the ritual of the Sunday drive. For some people, Sunday drives meant leaving the smoke and noise of the city behind for bucolic ro...
Boo at the Zoo Unmasked Christina Fisanick October 11, 2018 The Oglebay Good Zoo held its first Boo at the Zoo in October 1980 as a way to raise funds for animal care and zoo operations and to invite the community to enjoy safe, family-oriented Halloween fun. It quickly...
Roll Out the History: IPA Master Brewer Once Owned Waddington Farm Christina Fisanick October 2, 2018 Recent years have witnessed the rise in popularity of India Pale Ale (IPA), a kind of brew known for its bitterness and often higher alcohol content. Few people realize, however, that one of North America’s bes...
The Painful Fat Disease: Lipedema Christina Fisanick September 12, 2018 When I learned I had lipedema, I cried. Hours later I was still crying. Thankfully, I was able to regain control over my thoughts, but I still struggle with depression associated with this progressive, painful ...
Cottages Have Been Offering Overnight Hospitality to Oglebay Guests for 80 Years Christina Fisanick August 17, 2018 Although Oglebay Park is widely known for its rolling vistas, hiking trails, and golf courses, sometimes guests like to spend a bit more time than just an afternoon fishing at Schenk Lake or swimming at the out...
Oglebay – The Park That Almost Wasn’t Christina Fisanick July 25, 2018 4 Imagine Wheeling without Oglebay Park. … At one point that nightmare was nearly reality. As one of the largest self-sustaining city parks in the country, Oglebay Park rubs shoulders with just a select few...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The Fine Art of Porch Sitting Christina Fisanick July 21, 2018 4 Edgewood-Woodsdale is a neighborhood with sittable porches. Although we have few vast verandas, many of our porches easily accommodate a few chairs or a glider. They were made that way. Porch sitting was an imp...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): I’ll Take the Back End Christina Fisanick June 30, 2018 1 During that first coveted week of spring that seemed like it would never arrive, my family and I fired up the gas grill to have a picnic on our deck. We washed away two seasons of crust from our glass table top...
Exhibit Brings Greatest Generation to Front Line Christina Fisanick June 5, 2018 Each year we lose nearly 400 veterans from World War II. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, only 558,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were alive in 2017. ...
Conference to Shed Light on Mental Illness Christina Fisanick May 30, 2018 In the late 1970s, two Wisconsin mothers, Harriet Shetler and Beverly Young, had grown weary of community backlash against their sons who struggled with schizophrenia. As they worked to find care for their s...
No Need to Keep Quiet About Good Times at the Library Christina Fisanick May 21, 2018 Saturday, I went to a party at the Ohio County Public Library (OCPL). Most of you are probably thinking (with a fair amount of sarcasm), “I bet that was a good time.” Let me tell you, it was! Libraries are not ...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Her Name Is Delores Christina Fisanick May 19, 2018 4 “Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien At times it seems that she is everywhere. Walking down Walnut Avenue, crossing National Road by Vance Church, strolling through Wheeling Park. She is alway...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Taking the Cow Path to Culture Christina Fisanick April 28, 2018 2 Route 88 meanders through the Ohio Valley countryside, connecting the city of Wheeling to Oglebay Park and small, rural towns and farms along the way. More significantly, for some, Route 88 is the lifeline that...
The Wheeling Ambulance: A Civil War Hero Christina Fisanick April 16, 2018 1 Even though no battles were fought here, Wheeling was an important site during the American Civil War. Camp Carlisle on Wheeling Island provided training for Union soldiers, and the Atheneum on Market and 16...
Reeling From All These Wheelings (Part 2) Christina Fisanick March 18, 2018 4 EDITOR'S NOTE: Part one of this essay explored several of the most commonly known Wheelings. Today's part two explores Wheelings in Indiana, the South and in places rather unexpected. The Indiana Wheelings ...
Reeling From All These Wheelings (Part 1) Christina Fisanick March 17, 2018 2 The settling of Wheeling, W.Va. (then Virginia), by the Zane family is a story common to most locals. In 1795, white settler Ebenezer Zane changed the name of the area he had claimed through tomahawk rights fro...
The Writing on the Wall Christina Fisanick October 15, 2017 2 Wheeling natives have made their mark all over the nation and the world. They are actors, like Joyce DeWitt and John Corbett; labor activists, like Walter Reuther; musicians, like Leon “Chu” Berry and Mollie O’...
An Ode to Wheeling Summers Christina Fisanick July 2, 2017 19 By Christina Greer The headlines are depressing. “The most miserable state in the US is West Virginia. For the fifth year in a row!” (The 2014 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index) “West Virgin...
The Enduring Mystery of the Grave Creek Stone Christina Fisanick December 26, 2016 (written with Rebecca Taylor) As a girl growing up in 1980’s Moundsville, West Virginia, my* teachers must have taken me and my classmates on tours of the Mound and its museum more than a half a dozen times ...
Digital Storytelling Class Focuses On Wheeling Christina Fisanick November 19, 2015 Bringing Archives to Life A Weelunk partnership with Archiving Wheeling. For more great Wheeling stories visit www.archivingwheeling.org. Most history lovers are familiar with Ken Burns’ epic documentari...
A Seat of Frontier Justice: The Old West Liberty Courthouse Christina Fisanick November 1, 2015 5 I recently spent the day in the little town of West Liberty. I have been fascinated by the history of the hilltop village since my undergraduate days at West Liberty University, but back then I had no idea just...
In Full Bloom: Nicky’s Garden Center Christina Fisanick October 11, 2015 2 On the way back from Sunday brunch at Oglebay, we decided to stop by Nicky's Garden Center's new location on Warden Run Road to buy my mother-in-law a flower for her birthday. What we found was a whol...
New Endeavors at Olney Friends School Christina Fisanick July 30, 2015 I arrived on campus just in time for lunch, which gave me the perfect opportunity to learn all about the organic farm at Olney Friends School, an independent, progressive high school in Barnesville, Ohio. As I ...
Words & Music Celebrates 25 Years Christina Fisanick July 17, 2015 1 I first walked in to Words & Music my freshman year of college. As the only West Liberty commuter I knew without a driver’s license or a car, finding a way to the Stratford Springs' bookstore was a bit more...
Mmm . . . Popcorn Opens at Market Plaza Christina Fisanick June 3, 2015 7 My son insisted he could smell the popcorn by the time we hit the former Kaufman’s storefront. He held fast to his dad’s hand as he skipped down the alley and into Market Plaza. We were heading out to our first...
“The Stag,” the Myth, the Legend Christina Fisanick May 16, 2015 11 Every time I visit “The Stag” at Oglebay Park, I wonder how many Ohio Valley children have perched themselves on his smooth, verdigris surface. How many families have spread a picnic blanket in his shadow on a ...
Looking for Home: Rebecca Harding Davis and Me Christina Fisanick April 28, 2015 6 It seems fitting that my debut article for Weelunk.com is about my search for celebrated writer Rebecca Harding Davis’ (1831-1910) Wheeling home. After being gone from the Valley for 12 years, I felt desperate ...
