WEEREAD: Appalachia North — A MemoirChristina Fisanick August 1, 2020Appalachia, even to us West Virginians, seems at times like a foreign place. Appalachia is over there, not here. Appalachians...
WEEREAD: The Third Rainbow Girl — The Long Life of a Double Murder in AppalachiaChristina Fisanick July 11, 2020West Virginia’s history is often not well represented in books that tell stories from our hills and valleys. In The...
Not Her First QuarantineChristina Fisanick April 25, 2020This is not my first quarantine. In the sweltering August heat of 1979, my family and I, along with our...
COVID-19: Teachers Continue to Encourage, Motivate and EducateChristina Fisanick March 23, 2020s the novel coronavirus continues to spread across the world, the United States has had to take make some difficult...
WOMEN IN HISTORY: Wheeling Women Rewrite History BooksChristina Fisanick March 6, 2020Editor’s note: Throughout March — Women’s History Month — Weelunk will feature stories about women who have made history and...
WLU’s Rare Book Returns Home Christina Fisanick November 11, 2019e stood around the podium topped with a glass case like mythical giants peering down at tiny humans, and for...
Wheeling to Host Inaugural Writers Conference of Northern AppalachiaChristina Fisanick September 4, 2019owntown Wheeling has been chosen as the site for the first-ever Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia (WCoNA), where workshops, presentations,...
Jewish Community Celebrates 170 Years of WorshipChristina Fisanick July 31, 2019ollowing the second wave of Jewish migration to the United States during the 1840s-80s, the early Jewish community in West...
The Invisible Epidemic: Polycystic Ovarian SyndromeChristina Fisanick July 23, 2019Editor’s note: The goal of our Our Hope in Recovery series is to shed light on various diseases, conditions and...
Celebrating Juneteenth in WheelingChristina Fisanick June 18, 2019any Americans probably believe that once President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that all slaves were set free...
‘Rithmetic Genius Born in Ohio County — Go FigureChristina Fisanick May 29, 2019ost people can remember their parents or grandparents talking about the three R’s of schooling: reading, writing and arithmetic. These...
People’s University Uncovers the Obscure McLure Christina Fisanick May 19, 2019Editor’s note: The Ohio County Public Library has launched its 26th People’s University, an eight-week series featuring weird, wild, wacky,...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The 21st Century Marriage SaverChristina Fisanick May 11, 2019hen Hazlett and Irene (Miller) Cochran built what would later become my Edgwood home in 1926, marriage looked quite a...
Wheeling Country Day School: Celebrating 90 Years of LearningChristina Fisanick March 22, 2019“To empower students to think, to create, and to communicate in a nurturing environment where learning and character are paramount.”...
Skating Through History: An Ohio Valley Tradition That’s Alive and WellChristina Fisanick March 5, 2019You can ask just about anyone who grew up in Wheeling about how they spent their winter weekends from childhood...
The Presidential Allure of the Hotel McLureChristina Fisanick February 18, 2019When hotel clerk Howard Finley first saw Wheeling’s McLure not long after it re-opened in 1896 following renovations, he exclaimed,...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Sledding in the Ohio Valley — A Family TraditionChristina Fisanick January 26, 2019It was the first snow of 2019. Two inches or so covered the lawns and sidewalks throughout Wheeling with a...
Wheeling Leaves Its Mark on TwainChristina Fisanick January 11, 2019On Jan. 10, 1872, one of America’s most celebrated storytellers took the stage at Wheeling’s Washington Hall. An Intelligencer reporter...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Christmas Tree Prey for Praying MantisesChristina Fisanick December 29, 2018When I woke up that morning, they were everywhere. Hundreds of tiny insects were swarming in the dim morning light...
Twelfth Night Ball Celebrates Past, Looks to FutureChristina Fisanick December 26, 2018The great City of Wheeling turns 250 years old in 2019. Yes, Wheeling is older than the United States. It...
Weelunk Writer Takes Readers on a Sparkling Tour of OglebayChristina Fisanick December 16, 2018Everyone who knows me knows that I love all things Oglebay — the history, the lakes, the lodge, the rolling...
Wheeling’s Generous Philanthropists Provide for FutureChristina Fisanick November 27, 2018Each time I walk through the Oglebay Mansion Museum, I stop in front of Earl W. Oglebay’s portrait and thank...
To All the Halloween Babies Like MeChristina Fisanick October 31, 2018At 6:01 a.m. on Oct. 31, 1973, little old me came screechin’ and bawlin’ into this world. Yes, I am...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The Pleasure of the Sunday DriveChristina Fisanick October 14, 2018Once cars became more affordable in the 1920s and ‘30s, families began to enjoy the ritual of the Sunday drive....
Boo at the Zoo UnmaskedChristina Fisanick October 11, 2018The Oglebay Good Zoo held its first Boo at the Zoo in October 1980 as a way to raise funds...
Roll Out the History: IPA Master Brewer Once Owned Waddington FarmChristina Fisanick October 2, 2018Recent years have witnessed the rise in popularity of India Pale Ale (IPA), a kind of brew known for its...
The Painful Fat Disease: LipedemaChristina Fisanick September 12, 2018When I learned I had lipedema, I cried. Hours later I was still crying. Thankfully, I was able to regain...
Cottages Have Been Offering Overnight Hospitality to Oglebay Guests for 80 YearsChristina Fisanick August 17, 2018Although Oglebay Park is widely known for its rolling vistas, hiking trails, and golf courses, sometimes guests like to spend...
Oglebay – The Park That Almost Wasn’tChristina Fisanick July 25, 2018Imagine Wheeling without Oglebay Park. … At one point that nightmare was nearly reality. As one of the largest self-sustaining...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): The Fine Art of Porch SittingChristina Fisanick July 21, 2018Edgewood-Woodsdale is a neighborhood with sittable porches. Although we have few vast verandas, many of our porches easily accommodate a...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): I’ll Take the Back EndChristina Fisanick June 30, 2018During that first coveted week of spring that seemed like it would never arrive, my family and I fired up...
Exhibit Brings Greatest Generation to Front LineChristina Fisanick June 5, 2018Each year we lose nearly 400 veterans from World War II. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs statistics,...
Conference to Shed Light on Mental IllnessChristina Fisanick May 30, 2018In the late 1970s, two Wisconsin mothers, Harriet Shetler and Beverly Young, had grown weary of community backlash against their...
No Need to Keep Quiet About Good Times at the LibraryChristina Fisanick May 21, 2018Saturday, I went to a party at the Ohio County Public Library (OCPL). Most of you are probably thinking (with...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Her Name Is DeloresChristina Fisanick May 19, 2018“Not all those who wander are lost.” J.R.R. Tolkien At times it seems that she is everywhere. Walking down Walnut...
POSTSCRIPTS FROM THE EDGE(WOOD): Taking the Cow Path to CultureChristina Fisanick April 28, 2018Route 88 meanders through the Ohio Valley countryside, connecting the city of Wheeling to Oglebay Park and small, rural towns...
The Wheeling Ambulance: A Civil War HeroChristina Fisanick April 16, 2018Even though no battles were fought here, Wheeling was an important site during the American Civil War. Camp Carlisle on...
Reeling From All These Wheelings (Part 2)Christina Fisanick March 18, 2018EDITOR’S NOTE: Part one of this essay explored several of the most commonly known Wheelings. Today’s part two explores Wheelings...
Reeling From All These Wheelings (Part 1)Christina Fisanick March 17, 2018The settling of Wheeling, W.Va. (then Virginia), by the Zane family is a story common to most locals. In 1795, white...
The Writing on the WallChristina Fisanick October 15, 2017Wheeling natives have made their mark all over the nation and the world. They are actors, like Joyce DeWitt and...
An Ode to Wheeling SummersChristina Fisanick July 2, 2017By Christina Greer The headlines are depressing. “The most miserable state in the US is West Virginia. For the...
The Enduring Mystery of the Grave Creek StoneChristina 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...
Digital Storytelling Class Focuses On WheelingChristina Fisanick November 19, 2015Bringing Archives to Life A Weelunk partnership with Archiving Wheeling. For more great Wheeling stories visit www.archivingwheeling.org. Most history lovers...
A Seat of Frontier Justice: The Old West Liberty CourthouseChristina Fisanick November 1, 2015I recently spent the day in the little town of West Liberty. I have been fascinated by the history of...
In Full Bloom: Nicky’s Garden CenterChristina Fisanick October 11, 2015 On the way back from Sunday brunch at Oglebay, we decided to stop by Nicky’s Garden Center’s new location...
New Endeavors at Olney Friends SchoolChristina Fisanick July 30, 2015I arrived on campus just in time for lunch, which gave me the perfect opportunity to learn all about the...
Words & Music Celebrates 25 YearsChristina Fisanick July 17, 2015I first walked in to Words & Music my freshman year of college. As the only West Liberty commuter I...
Mmm . . . Popcorn Opens at Market PlazaChristina Fisanick June 3, 2015My son insisted he could smell the popcorn by the time we hit the former Kaufman’s storefront. He held fast...
“The Stag,” the Myth, the LegendChristina Fisanick May 16, 2015Every time I visit “The Stag” at Oglebay Park, I wonder how many Ohio Valley children have perched themselves on...
Looking for Home: Rebecca Harding Davis and MeChristina Fisanick April 28, 2015It seems fitting that my debut article for Weelunk.com is about my search for celebrated writer Rebecca Harding Davis’ (1831-1910)...
