Author 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

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

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

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

January 25, 2019

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 29, 2018

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

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

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

August 9, 2018

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

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

July 20, 2018

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. ...

July 18, 2018

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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

July 14, 2018

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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

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)

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)

June 26, 2018

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

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 ...

Hop on Over to the Zoo Brew at Good Zoo

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 ...

Discovering Reiki: a Path to Healing

June 18, 2018

My hands have been tingling on and off for three days. They tingle as I write. At times the sensations move down to my feet or through my arms. Three days ago, I would have Googled the symptoms, diagnosed mysel...

The Autoimmune Sisterhood

June 12, 2018

Autoimmune disease is on the rise in our country. In decades past, the term “autoimmune” wasn’t widely known, but today, 50 million Americans live with an autoimmune disease. That number is climbing, and women ...

ONE TANK TRIPS: Cranesville Swamp Preserve

June 6, 2018

Summer has finally arrived. With it comes the opportunity to get out of your house and into nature. In this mini-series, I’ll be visiting semi-local parks and giving you the summary, so you can plan your next o...

Weather Balloon Launch: ‘Truly a Five-Sense Experience’

May 23, 2018

Fifth grade at Wheeling Country Day School is a special year. The most senior class serves as leaders and sets examples for other students. They get to visit the Stone Lab in Lake Erie and the capitol buildin...

West Virginia Writers Celebrate 40 Years of Literature

May 15, 2018

On the second weekend in June, a pack of unique and wonderful people descends upon the Cedar Lakes Conference Center in the green hills of Ripley, W.Va. They’re artsy folk, young and old, with a common bond: th...

ONE TANK TRIPS: Tomlinson Run State Park

May 4, 2018

The warm weather is finally returning to our area. With it comes the opportunity to get out of your house and get into nature. In this mini-series, I’ll be visiting semi-local parks and giving you the summary, ...

Wheeling Threads: An Artistic Endeavor in Community Spirit

April 30, 2018

There’s a lot of talk on social media about Wheeling. It often falls into two areas of discussion: the Wheeling that was and the Wheeling that will be. As a late Gen-X’er, I’m not quite old enough to remember t...

Roberts Ruminates: Beans and Weenies

April 21, 2018

I didn’t drink coffee until my first child was born. For 27 years of my life, I got by on ante-meridiem pep alone. But when the kid came along, as you can imagine, a steaming cup of artificial energy became an ...

Return of the Eagle — The Poster-Child for Ecological Success

April 9, 2018

The first time I saw a bald eagle here in the Ohio Valley, I had to blink to be sure I was awake. I was born in the late 1970s when eagles were still a rare treasure, a bird you might see out in a western natio...

Roberts Ruminates: Ode to This Road

April 7, 2018

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The National Road runs like an artery right through our community. It wasn’t originally meant to come through Wheeling, though. It began in Cumberland, Md., and ultimately ended in Vandalia, Ill., but thanks to...

Ashley Is the Cat’s Meow

April 2, 2018

Charlie crawled through the frigid rain, one step at a time. His bones ached; his backside throbbed. He hadn’t eaten in days, and he could barely make it up the porch stairs. The world around him felt enormous ...

Trout: A Challenge to Hook, a Thrill to Land

March 23, 2018

Winter in West Virginia can feel like a lifetime. The clouds roll in to stay, the snow flies, and we spend our hibernating months looking out the window, wishing we were outside again, doing sunny-weather thing...

Let’s Talk About Renewable Energy

March 19, 2018

Oglebay Institute's Schrader Environmental Education Center offers a wide variety of programs for the community. My kids attend camp. I've gone fungi-hunting and owl-calling. My husband and I constructed rain b...

Ohio Valley Writers Announce Writing Contest

March 6, 2018

The Ohio Valley Writers are pleased to announce our first writing contest. In fact, we’re announcing two contests: one for adults and one for elementary school children. We’re accepting submissions in fiction, ...

Valley Views & Varmints: A Land of Giants

October 6, 2017

I swore to myself I’d never publish this piece. Truth be told, I like you guys a lot—and I appreciate that you read “Valley Views & Varmints”—but since I began this series, I’ve found myself writing about t...

Valley Views & Varmints: The Menace with the White Tail

September 14, 2017

The first time I meet her, something comes over me. I’m compelled to approach her. She looks soft and kind, yet hesitant. I’ve been told to stay away from her—friends tell me she’s trouble. But I can’t help mys...

Bringing Him Home: DeFranco Family Hosts Fundraiser for Their Son

September 2, 2017

While you’re reading this, a little boy waits. He’s on the other side of the world, right now, in China. He goes to school there, he’s got friends, and his basic needs are met. He likes to dance and sing and be...

Valley Views & Varmints: A Valley Called Egypt

August 8, 2017

I just got back from a Yellowstone vacation. In addition to the mountain-gazing, geysers, and grizzly bears, I was particularly taken with the wide-open landscapes. Wildlife roamed the green valleys, and strips...

Valley Views & Varmints: Belmont County’s Sacred Canyon

July 26, 2017

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When I was a child, my father took me to a wild and rocky place far from home. I don’t have any concrete memories of the experience; it’s one of those recollections I formed from the stories he’s told over the ...

Valley Views & Varmints: Tiny Lights

June 27, 2017

Summer brings out the bugs. Nasty skeeters, biblical plagues of cicadas, and that cricket that lived in my car for nine days one year and almost chirped me into the nuthouse. As a culture, we spend hundreds of ...

Valley Views & Varmints: Snagging a Spot for Stumpy

June 12, 2017

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Though I live in Wheeling, I’ve been blessed with a pretty big backyard. I don’t have to drive to Oglebay or beyond the city limits for open areas or shady groves. Over the course of our 100-plus years here on ...

Modern Victorian Cocktail: History, Family & Balance in a Century-Old Home

December 13, 2016

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I am a Wheeling native. My family, my ancestors, lie at rest three blocks from my house, up the street in Greenwood cemetery. They were a proper Victorian bunch, who began their lives just as I would do so ...

Ramps: Feasting on the King of Stink

May 5, 2016

It’s spring in West Virginia again. That’s a good thing, because the temperature allows me to write this outside. The grass is a soft, green carpet beneath my feet. Mason bees buzz around my stone foundation an...

Uptight Blogger Seeks Mindfulness: Meditation Workshop at OI

April 8, 2016

Oglebay Institute offers a heck of a lot of classes. Art, dance, acting, nature—a wide array of choices. There’s something for just about everyone. If you want to make art glass, they can arrange that. If you w...

OI’s Dance Grad Returns for Nutcracker