Laura Jackson Roberts, Author at Weelunk

The History of the West Virginia Hot Dog

January 10, 2020

I just ate my first West Virginia Hot Dog yesterday down at Tito’s Sloppy Doggs. In the past, my relationship with the hot dog was wishy-washy. A good hot dog is an amazing thing, but a bad one is enough to tur...

ROBERTS RUMINATES: Traditions, Toilets and Trickery

Laura Jackson Roberts

December 25, 2019

No matter what holiday we celebrate, our yearly traditions anchor us. They keep us grounded in times of joy and chaos, both of which flow abundantly in December. Christmas traditions in my family never varie...

Adolescent Mental Illness (Part 2): One Ohio Valley Family’s Struggle

Laura Jackson Roberts

December 14, 2019

What follows is an Ohio Valley family’s story about their child’s struggle with mental illness. To protect the anonymity of their underage child, I have written it in my own words, using gender-neutral pronouns...

Adolescent Mental Illness (Part 1): Health Issues on the Rise

Laura Jackson Roberts

December 13, 2019

The need for mental health care and awareness is a growing problem in our state and the Ohio Valley. Now, with the closure of Ohio Valley Medical Center, Hillcrest and the Robert C. Byrd Child & Adolescent ...

FRIDAY TRYDAY: Oglebay’s Frosted Hilltop

Laura Jackson Roberts

December 6, 2019

Editor’s note: Laura Jackson Roberts loves a new adventure. And in that vein, we’ve started our occasional “FRIDAY TRYDAY” series, where she will be trying out and sharing with readers a variety of experiences...

Browsing With Book People at Vigilant Bookstore

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 25, 2019

Have you ever seen someone adrift in a bookstore? It can be a tiny space, and yet they look lost — not physically, but mentally. Maybe they draw the books up to their face to smell the paper and binding glue. M...

Legendary Barber Recalls 50 Years of Work in Wheeling

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 8, 2019

Ralph Tomlinson was 94 years old when he cut his last head of hair on July 6, 2018. For 50 years, Ralph barbered in Wheeling, 49 of them at his shop on 33rd Street. You might call him a legend. To hear more ...

ROBERTS RUMINATES: Buzz Off

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 2, 2019

It’s time for school pictures again. That means haircuts, which means considerable whining and negotiation. It’s a necessary chore, but the barber always makes it look easy. “I could teach you how to do it y...

ONE TANK TRIPS: Unusual Hiking at Piatt Park

Laura Jackson Roberts

October 28, 2019

If you’re looking for unique geology, Ohio has some options. At Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, visitors can explore caves and waterfalls and hike through eastern hardwood forest. It’s a bit of a drive to ge...

FRIDAY TRYDAY: A Trip to Hell on Earth — Wheeling’s Newest Haunted Attraction

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 27, 2019

Editor's note: Laura Jackson Roberts loves a new adventure. And in that vein, we've started our occasional "FRIDAY TRYDAY" series, where she will be trying out and sharing with readers a variety of experiences...

Finding Peace in a Sanctuary of Salt

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 25, 2019

Editor’s note: Wellness — we all need it. Today, allow writer Laura Jackson Roberts to share a salt sanctuary with you. It’s hard to write a story when you slept through most of the intervi...

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 23, 2019

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...

A Thrive Test-Run: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Try

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 18, 2019

Editor's note: Wellness — we all need it. Today, allow writer Laura Jackson Roberts to take you along with her to Thrive. Next week, she'll share a salt sanctuary with you. Unless you live under a rock, you...

West Virginia’s Remarkable Bats

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 6, 2019

I’ve got a history with bats. For 40 years, they’ve been invading my summers and my homes. A bat slammed into the wall and landed in a paint bucket. One entertained the cats for an evening, fluttering wildly, a...

Experience Wheeling’s Rowdy Past at the Francis Pier-Pint Brew-Off: Prohibition Edition

Laura Jackson Roberts

August 12, 2019

The logo was designed by Erin Rothenbuehler, programming and archives coordinator at the Ohio County Public Library. According to local historian Sean Duffy, history and beer go together naturally. Luckily ...

PETROCHEMICALS AND THE OHIO VALLEY: Part 2 — Health Effects of Cracker Plants

Laura Jackson Roberts

August 2, 2019

Editor’s note: On July 16, the Ohio County Public Library hosted two experts at its Lunch with Books series. Dr. Matthew Mehalik, Ph.D., and Dr. Ned Ketyer, M.D., spoke to a crowd of over 100 about the environm...

PETROCHEMICALS AND THE OHIO VALLEY: Part 1 — Environmental Effects of Cracker Plants

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 26, 2019

1

Editor's note: On July 16, the Ohio County Public Library hosted two experts at its Lunch with Books series. Dr. Matthew Mehalik, Ph.D., and Dr. Ned Ketyer, M.D., spoke to a crowd of over 100 about the environm...

Caring for Coley: Mother, Daughter Give Hope to One Another

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 2, 2019

I’ve been hearing about Lisa and Nicole Goodson from a friend for over a year now. You have to write their story, my friend would say. And here’s my confession: I’ve had this interview on my to-do list for 15 m...

Roberts Ruminates: Horrible Creatures

Laura Jackson Roberts

June 8, 2019

I’ve got a lot of critters in my house. They’re all rescues. Our collie mix came from Marshall County Animal Shelter. We found the tortie cat at Ohio County and the tabby under a bush. Our German shepherd was f...

Second Annual Conference to Shed Light on Mental Illness

Laura Jackson Roberts

May 31, 2019

If there’s one word that describes Amy Gamble, the executive director of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Greater Wheeling, it’s open. She’s dedicated her life to mental health awareness, and thr...

The House in the Photo: A History of Echo Manor

Laura Jackson Roberts

May 24, 2019

There are many images of Wheeling from its early days, but certain photos just stick with us. One, in particular, generates discussion: a well-known sepia image from the turn of the century. Runners wind their ...

Coyotes: Truth, Myth and What We’re Getting Wrong

Laura Jackson Roberts

May 13, 2019

“Ithought it was our neighbor’s dog on the loose.” “They are brave. Some nights when they are tracking/killing it is so loud.” “Bethlehem is loaded with them. We got a Great Pyrenees to keep them away.” ...

Tick-Borne Disease: Fact, Fiction and Prevention

Laura Jackson Roberts

May 3, 2019

The other day I went into the woods to dig up some ramps. I wore socks and long pants as I crouched in the leaf litter. Later, I felt something on my stomach. It was a tick, moving as fast as it could toward my...

Artists Studio Tour to Showcase Local Artists at Work

Laura Jackson Roberts

April 16, 2019

If you’re not an artist, the world of art seems like another dimension. When we walk the halls of a gallery, buy a piece of jewelry or admire a hand-crafted dining room table, we only see the finished product. ...

A History of Disaster: How Piedmont and the Muskingum Watershed Lakes Came to Be

Laura Jackson Roberts

April 15, 2019

Each weekend in the summers of my childhood, my parents packed me and my brother up and took us to a little brown cabin at the end of a gravel lane. Woods surrounded the house on three sides, woodpeckers called...

Laura Jackson Roberts

April 1, 2019

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 i...

Narrative Medicine: Using Patients’ Life Stories to Promote Healing

Laura Jackson Roberts

March 16, 2019

Cancer is a fact of life. We all know someone who’s fought it, and most of us know people who have both won and lost that battle. Cancer changes lives. It has a way of clearing away cobwebs and refocusing prior...

Perspective Is Everything: Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Laura Jackson Roberts

March 15, 2019

Editor's note: In this series, we’ll talk to locals who struggle with autoimmune disease and share their stories. Below, Ohio Valley resident Michele Meeks shares her experiences with Multiple Sclerosis. WHA...

Wandering Photographers: An Afternoon With the Wheeling Shooters

Laura Jackson Roberts

March 12, 2019

I am not a photographer. I tried it for a few years when my first kid was born. I took some decent pictures, thanks to some help from my Nikon lenses and some great teachers at Oglebay Institute. Now, with the ...

There’s No Business Like Snow Business at Oglebay’s Slopes

Laura Jackson Roberts

February 8, 2019

The first thing Nick Janovich, Oglebay’s golf course superintendent and ski area manager, wants you to know about the ski slope at the Nutting Winter Sports Complex is that he can’t just whip up a batch of snow...

ROBERTS RUMINATES: Things That Go Click in the Night

Laura Jackson Roberts

February 2, 2019

At 2:30 a.m. the other night, I pulled back the curtains beside my bed to see sheets of rain ponding on the road. I watched for a long time. I listened, and I counted the seconds as the traffic light down the r...

Rescues Find Forever Homes With The Road Home Animal Project

Laura Jackson Roberts

January 25, 2019

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We’ve all got that friend on social media who shares photos of shelter animals. That’s how I found The Road Home Animal Project. The non-profit organization in St. Clairsville, Ohio, is run entirely by voluntee...

ROBERTS RUMINATES: A Place for Piles

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 17, 2018

We tidied up our house the other day. It was in desperate need, and during the miserable exercise — one replete with whining and bickering and arguments about who was absolutely not going to pick up that shoe o...

Oglebay’s Holiday Tradition: The Best Light

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 9, 2018

The Festival of Lights is Oglebay’s crown jewel, and on Thursday, Nov. 8, it went live for its 33rd year. That’s a lot of years, a lot of light and a lot of excited young faces hanging out car windows. Many of ...

Happy Trails to Oglebay

Laura Jackson Roberts

November 6, 2018

Right now, people are walking in Oglebay Park. Some walk with dogs, some run through the woods. Some walk with a cane or motor along in an electric power-chair. Parents push strollers, and kids run ahead, aroun...

ROBERTS RUMINATES: Two Types of People

Laura Jackson Roberts

October 27, 2018

When I was a kid, Halloween was a fun time of year. We bought pumpkins at the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival, and on the way home, our elephant ear sugar-highs fueled elaborate costume plans. A few weeks later, w...

Lupus: Cruel and Hard to Diagnose

Laura Jackson Roberts

October 23, 2018

In this series, we’ll talk to locals who struggle with autoimmune disease and share their stories. Below, Ohio Valley residents Ashley Suder and Allison Stoner open up about their experiences with lupus. Wha...

Schrader Center to Host Annual Ecofest Saturday

Laura Jackson Roberts

October 4, 2018

It’s Oglebayfest time again. During the weekend of Oct. 5-7, the hills of Oglebay will fill with vendors and visitors for the beloved annual event. Along with favorites like the Phil Maxwell Artist and Gourmet ...

Roberts Ruminates: Disorderly Conduct

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 29, 2018

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I enjoy getting the mail. There’s always some hope when I go to the front porch each day. Maybe a paycheck has come, maybe a package from Amazon on which I’ve already blown said forthcoming paycheck. Maybe, at ...

What’s New at the Zoo? Animal Encounters and More

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 14, 2018

After 40 years of visits, I know Oglebay’s Good Zoo so well I could walk the paths with my eyes closed. Originally a North American zoo, the facility now focuses on rare and endangered species. Conservation is ...

One Tank Trips: Cathedral State Park

Laura Jackson Roberts

September 7, 2018

Just down the road from Deep Creek Lake, Md., sits one of my favorite West Virginia day trips, Cathedral State Park. It’s another spot I’ve recently discovered. As we traveled to and from Canaan Valley and Blac...

KAYAKING OUR CREEKS (Part 2): Below the Surface

Laura Jackson Roberts

August 9, 2018

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While there’s no denying the beauty of our local waterways and the rising popularity of recreational kayaking, there’s also no denying that our creeks and rivers show the effects of pollution. Sewage, acid mine...

KAYAKING OUR CREEKS (Part 1): Paddling With Care

Laura Jackson Roberts

August 8, 2018

I recently paddled Wheeling Creek for the first time. I’ve paddled other rivers like the Youghiogheny, the South Branch and the Cheat. I’ve meant to do Wheeling Creek — it was just a matter of logistics. All ou...

All In a Day’s Work: Wheeling Symphony Musician Rescues Stray

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 20, 2018

1

Camille Rolla is a Pittsburgh-based pianist. She’s very talented. Recently, she subbed with the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra for a concert series in the mountains of West Virginia. She’s also a dog rescuer. ...

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 18, 2018

5

In this series, we’ll talk to Ohio Valley residents who struggle with autoimmune problems and share their stories. Series author Laura Jackson Roberts opens up about living with Sjögren’s Syndrome in this inaug...

Roberts Ruminations: Intruder Alert

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 14, 2018

4

When Shawn woke me up the other night at 1 a.m., I’d been in the middle of a dream about a raspberry cheesecake. One moment I was reaching for a fork, and the next, a jittery man stood over me. “Laura!” “...

Oglebay’s Access to the Parks Program Provides Opportunities for Togetherness

Laura Jackson Roberts

July 4, 2018

When we think back to our own childhoods in the Ohio Valley, we likely find our memories are inextricably intertwined with the green hills of Oglebay Park. There are many storied traditions. Some families spend...

Beekeepers Keep Food on the Table, Honey in the Cupboard (Part 2)

Laura Jackson Roberts

June 27, 2018

Standing beside John Welty’s hive, cradling the little worker bee who died when she stung my protective suit, I feel as though I’ve just committed ecological sin. Honeybees are in trouble, after all. It’s all o...

Beekeepers Keep Food on the Table, Honey in the Cupboard (Part 1)

Laura Jackson Roberts

June 26, 2018

2

I’m stepping into a beekeeper’s suit today. It’s not heavy garb, but it’s puffy and cumbersome. Once the hood goes over my head and the gloves go on, there’s no way to scratch my nose, which immediately begins ...

Hop On Over to Zoo Brew

Laura Jackson Roberts

June 20, 2018

For one night each June at the Oglebay Good Zoo, the kids go home. The strollers roll away, the little red wagons head out, and the calls for popcorn and train rides fade into the evening sunset. After regular ...

Author Laura Jackson Roberts