Kelly Strautmann, Author at Weelunk

The Magic of Tradition at E. Black & Son Nursery

December 8, 2020

Originally posted 11-30-19. Updated 12-8-20 with new content for the holiday season. The holidays are all about traditions, and I have one that is very special. It started when I was a child and continues to...

BYGONE COMEBACKS: Picking Up the (Puzzle) Pieces During COVID-19

Kelly Strautmann

September 9, 2020

Editor’s note: Have you noticed lately that bits of the past are creeping into the present? We’re gardening more, going to drive-in movies, spending time with nature, putting jigsaw puzzles together. We are fin...

The Caring City: Wheeling’s Longstanding and Successful Social Services Organizations

Kelly Strautmann

August 14, 2020

Wheeling may be considered small, but its community outreach is the opposite. Few small towns can boast they have as many longstanding, successful nonprofit social service organizations as Wheeling. Wheeling...

The Road From Small Town to Published Author: Two Marshall County Natives Release Books

Kelly Strautmann

June 27, 2020

Author’s note: It was a pleasure to write about two people from my small hometown — a younger schoolmate and friend, and my own brother. Cameron, West Virginia, a tiny town about 30 miles south of Whee...

NATIONAL NURSES WEEK: Chante Gonzales, Wheeling Hospital

Kelly Strautmann

May 13, 2020

Editor’s note: We owe our nurses everywhere a big thank you and more appreciation than ever for helping us through this pandemic. Look for Weelunk’s Q&A stories with several Ohio Valley nurses in the c...

The Year of the Nurse: National Nurses Week Carries Extra Significance in 2020

Kelly Strautmann

May 6, 2020

Editor’s note: Look for Weelunk’s Q&A stories with several Ohio Valley nurses in the coming days in honor of National Nurses Week, May 6-12. Every year, National Nurses Week starts on May 6 and ends six ...

A Letter to My Daughters in the Time of COVID-19 — (That They Should Probably Never Read)

Kelly Strautmann

May 2, 2020

Everything moved so fast in March. On a Monday we were saying, “You know, this has the potential to get really bad.” By the end of the week, we were all working from home and preparing to home school indefinite...

WOMEN IN HISTORY: Wheeling Nurses Share Tales From Their Military Days

Kelly Strautmann

March 17, 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. Two women, born and raised in Wheeling, West Virgini...

Radical Ratification: Wheeling’s Role in the 19th Amendment

Kelly Strautmann

March 10, 2020

The right to vote is something many of us may take for granted — until it is time to get to the polls. And 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote. One hundred years ago today, Ma...

Out of the Ashes: Wheeling’s Ziegenfelder Company Stronger Than Ever

Kelly Strautmann

January 31, 2020

January 31, 2019. It was a bitterly cold winter day, with highs reaching only 11 degrees. Most people in Wheeling were rushing here and there to get out of the frigid cold on that Thursday morning, but soon ...

Held Together by Stories: A Special Lunch With Books Remembers OVMC

Kelly Strautmann

January 11, 2020

I was born there. I graduated from there. My children were born there. These statements were heard more than once at Tuesday's Lunch with Books — “OVGH & OVMC Memories” — at the Ohio County Library. ...

The Giving Tree of Centre Market Gives to Those in Need

Kelly Strautmann

December 9, 2019

In Shel Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree, the tree gives everything it has to the boy it loves until the only thing left is the stump. Business owners in Wheeling’s Centre Market also hope to give away all th...

Handled With Dignity: Putting the Past to Rest

Kelly Strautmann

October 25, 2019

It took a village to honor an anonymous young girl’s skeletal remains retrieved from the now-closed Ohio Valley Medical Center. Two hospital retirees, a historian, a funeral home, a library and, finally, a ceme...

The Time Is Now for Moundsville’s First Arts and Culture Committee

Kelly Strautmann

September 10, 2019

This year, the city of Moundsville is doing things a little differently — they can proudly say they have their first Arts and Culture Committee. It’s been a long time coming, but the general feeling among me...

Building a Stronger Community — One Gnome at a Time

Kelly Strautmann

August 17, 2019

There is a place in Wheeling where you can meet new friends and be creative. Where a beautiful resident tortoiseshell cat named Reese will greet you and make you feel welcome. It’s a place where owners Beth ...

Mounds of Learning Opportunities at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex

Kelly Strautmann

June 28, 2019

You pay homage to it every time you say the name of its hometown. It’s one of the largest Adena burials found in the country. It’s been the center of hoaxes, and Charles Dickens even paid it a visit. There is a...

New Shindig Coming to the Valley

Kelly Strautmann

May 17, 2019

Four days of riding and three nights of music. If you are looking for something new to do over Memorial Day weekend, Dean Barath of Ideal Provisions has you covered. Barath will host his first-ever music fes...

New Martinsville Native Shines Light on Coal Miners in ‘Mine 9’

Kelly Strautmann

April 19, 2019

Editor's note: "Mine 9" is now available on Netflix. You will find yourself gripping the armrest in the theater as you descend two miles underground into the dark mine. The miners’ point-of-view is your poin...

What We Lost at Wheeling Jesuit University

Kelly Strautmann

April 14, 2019

Author’s note: It was impossible for me to write a piece on WJU objectively, so I did a deep dive into my personal experience. I believe the courses of study left at WJU for the upcoming year are no less import...

Shantyboats and Watercolors: Wheeling Native Takes On Kentucky Artist

Kelly Strautmann

April 10, 2019

“Just like Hubbard on one of his many trips down the Ohio River, I came with the water from Wheeling and was mysteriously compelled to stop at this beautiful little part of the world near Madison, Indiana.” ...

More Than Meets the Eye at Oglebay Thanks to National Training Center

Kelly Strautmann

January 31, 2019

A lot of things come to mind when you think of Oglebay — the Festival of Lights, the Good Zoo, Oglebayfest — just to name a few. But there is something else that takes place at Oglebay in the off-season that br...

Art Scene Blossoming in Wheeling

Kelly Strautmann

December 14, 2018

It’s no secret when you live in Wheeling — art is everywhere in this small city. It is evident today, possibly more than ever, that art is a main part of the city’s identity and is here to stay. Driving down...

Can You Spare an Afternoon to Strike Up a Mentorship?

Kelly Strautmann

November 28, 2018

You don’t have to go far in the Ohio Valley to find good people willing to help others. Good things are happening at the St. Clair Lanes in St. Clairsville on Sunday, and you’re invited. The fun afternoon wi...

A Love Letter to the Oglebay Train Room

Kelly Strautmann

September 15, 2018

They say nothing lasts forever, and everything changes. You hear it your whole life. And there are many things you wait with mild to severe anxiety to change — from the small, everyday things to the bigger life...

Author Kelly Strautmann