Ringing In the New Year, 2020-Style Jessica Broverman December 31, 2020 This New Year’s Eve will be unlike any we have ever been a part of. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate in style and have a grand evening! Wheeling has plenty of opportunities that you can take par...
Weelunk 2020: Year in Review Weelunk Staff December 30, 2020 2020 was a year of the unexpected, the innovative, and the impactful. Weelunk spent 2020 telling community stories, discovering Wheeling’s history, and highlighting local people, businesses, and events. Our com...
Children of Wheeling Share Their Letters to Santa Emma Wiley December 25, 2020 Santa has a special message to the children of Wheeling this Christmas. Share his letter with your children and browse through the letters Santa received from our youngest Weelunk fans! Dear Children of Wheeli...
Weelunk Writers Share Their Favorite Traditions Weelunk Staff December 24, 2020 Whether you’re celebrating the holidays or enjoying the beauty of the season, winter is a time where many of us partake in special traditions with family and friends. In the spirit of the season, we asked the W...
Coping with Holiday Stress Jennifer Materkoski December 23, 2020 If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. With the twinkling lights, quality time with friends and family and the joy of sharing tradition...
Weelunk’s Ultimate Guide for Shopping Small Alex Panas December 19, 2020 Originally Published Nov. 25, 2020 With the holiday shopping season upon us, it’s a great time to support locally-owned businesses by shopping small. While many of us are aware of Small Business Saturday, we...
Polish Christmas Traditions Jennifer Materkoski December 18, 2020 By the 1890s, Wheeling had become a booming multicultural hub, as many left Southern and Eastern Europe looking for work in the area’s steel mills, coal mines and other labor industries. South Wheeling, in part...
Your Questions about Hanukah Answered Jessica Broverman December 12, 2020 The Jewish community is known for having many holidays, such as Passover, Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). But for me, Hanukah is the one that feels the most festive. Maybe it...
Local Letters to Santa from 1904 Emma Wiley December 11, 2020 Writing letters to Santa Claus has long been a tradition for many children who celebrate Christmas. Some send the letters in the mail, leave them by a plate of milk and cookies on Christmas Eve, or give them to...
Wheeling Mad Lib: ‘A Day in Wheeling’ Emma Wiley December 9, 2020 As the pandemic rages on and infected numbers are higher than ever, many of our beloved annual holiday practices and traditions are being reimagined and creatively changed to best protect ourselves and our comm...
Volunteer Wheeling Decorates Centre Market for the Holidays Alex Panas December 7, 2020 Centre Market is ready for the holidays after Volunteer Wheeling gathered on Saturday morning to spread some holiday cheer. The group decorated 18 planters with fresh pine and ornaments along Main and Market St...
WEELUNK MUSIC REVIEW: ‘Let’s Pants’ by Mr. Fancy Pants Anthony Baker December 4, 2020 Band name: Mr. Fancy Pants Members: Ryan “Muscles” Sears, Matt Klempa, Sean Decker Album name: Let’s Pants (released 2017) When a friend of mine named Ron suggested I write a music review on a band by ...
Women’s Giving Circle 10th Anniversary Jennifer Materkoski December 3, 2020 This year, the Women’s Giving Circle is celebrating ten years of service to the people of Wheeling. The organization began in 2010 when the three female board members of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Va...
Italian American Holiday Traditions in the Ohio Valley Melissa Rebholz November 26, 2020 Immigrants from Italy have long played a role in the economy of West Virginia. By 1910 Italian-Americans made up 30 percent of the population. Entering the United States by way of Ellis Island, the majority of ...
Shop Locally Online at The Wheeling Artisan Center Alex Panas November 24, 2020 For the last decade, Small Business Saturday has been a day for shoppers to support their community’s local businesses during the holiday season. And as COVID-19 cases continue to spike both locally and across ...
Holiday Helpers: Giving Back to the Ohio Valley Rosemary Ketchum November 23, 2020 The holidays look quite a bit different this year. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many of the habits and routines we’ve all come to know and take for granted. Whether you’re zooming into your family Christma...
Apple Season in West Virginia Melissa Rebholz November 20, 2020 We’ve slowly transitioned into the apple season here in West Virginia as the popular fall storage fruit steals the spotlight from summer berries and sustains our sweet tooth through the cold winter months. A...
Wheeling Restaurants Heating Up as Cooler Weather Settles In Jessica Broverman November 18, 2020 While Wheeling receives the perfect combination of all four seasons, any person in the area can tell you it gets quite icy come November. Some local restaurants have gone the extra mile by providing outdoor hea...
Take a Hike, Ohio Valley Laura Jackson Roberts November 17, 2020 Updated 11-16-20: In honor of National Take a Hike Day, we’re taking a look back at some of the Ohio Valley’s most unique spots for exploring the great outdoors. As we continue to navigate through the coronavir...
13 Things to do on Friday the 13th Emma Wiley November 13, 2020 Halloween may be over, but there’s still time to get your spook on the last Friday the 13th of 2020! Check out these interesting and chilling things to do in the Wheeling area today… Tour Wheeling’s Many C...
Stages Continues to Create, Despite Hardship Rosemary Ketchum November 9, 2020 “You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.” —Edith Head Owning a small business is tough. Navigating a global pandemic as a small business? Very tough. Wheeling has seen it’s fair share ...
Ghostly Campfire Tales for Halloween Jessica Broverman October 31, 2020 For thousands of years, storytelling has played an integral role in connecting one another and building communities. We engage in storytelling all the time, whether it be at work, through social media, or while...
Celebrating Halloween Safely Amid COVID-19 Jennifer Materkoski October 30, 2020 With 2020 still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans are looking at Halloween a little differently this year. While the City of Wheeling has announced plans to allow Trick-or-Treat with some adv...
Myth or Legend: Wheeling’s Flatwoods Monster Will Wallace October 28, 2020 On a September night in 1952, Kathleen May found herself in an odd situation. After hearing a fanciful story from her children, she found herself navigating through the West Virginia woods by flashlight. They s...
Show of Hands Voting is Open Alex Panas October 26, 2020 Starting today through Nov. 1, four local entrepreneurs are depending on the community to participate in Wheeling Heritage’s Virtual Show of Hands crowdfunding event. In lieu of an in-person event, Wheeling Her...
Myth or Legend? Rev. John Armstrong’s Final Resting Place Rosemary Ketchum October 24, 2020 You don’t have to spend much time in Wheeling before you begin to overhear stories about the “old days”. Mobsters, underground railroads, brothels, kingpins - you name it, Wheeling seemed to have it. However, t...
Myth or Legend? The Haunting of Tunnel Green Lives On Cassie Bendel October 23, 2020 Ask anyone from Wheeling about Tunnel Green and the first thing you’ll hear is “it’s haunted.” Stories of apparitions and spooky feelings abound over the Hempfield Railroad Viaduct and Tunnel (commonly known...
Carve a Wheeling-Themed Pumpkin Alex Panas October 20, 2020 The leaves are changing and there’s a crisp chill in the air - which means that Halloween is right around the corner! With many of us avoiding crowds and taking extra safety precautions amidst the coronavirus, ...
Mental Health and the COVID-19 Pandemic Rosemary Ketchum October 19, 2020 Has this year felt as long to you as it has to me? Your answer is probably, yes. As we recognize October as National Mental Health Month, it’s a good time to check-in with ourselves as we continue to navigat...
Former Show of Hands Winners Adapt to Changing Times Jennifer Materkoski October 16, 2020 In just a few weeks, Wheeling Heritage will present its next round of Show of Hands. The crowd-funding event is usually held a few times a year and gives members of the community an opportunity to support devel...
How One Couple Turned a $1 Church Into Their Dream Home Taylor Abbott October 14, 2020 Who doesn’t love a good project? Regardless of the size, I more often than not have something on my plate to keep me busy. I love a challenge but even that wasn’t enough to prepare my then soon-to-be-wife Alex ...
15 Wheeling-Based Instagram Accounts You Should Be Following Jessica Broverman October 10, 2020 Whether you have been here for years, new to town, or just passing through, Wheeling truly has something for everyone - and staying connected has never been easier! No matter what category you fall in, you can ...
Volunteers Doing Their Part to Build a Better Wheeling Alex Panas October 8, 2020 What started as a small volunteer group for Wheeling Heritage has blossomed into a city-wide effort to revitalize Wheeling. Volunteer Wheeling is a group of citizens who take on small-scale beautification proje...
Exploring Wheeling – Fall Edition Jessica Broverman October 3, 2020 There is a moment in every person’s life where they hear a phrase that will be echoed into countless days of their life. A phrase that is always met with an equally consistent monotone response, which often lea...
Tradition Lives On: Wheeling Food Tour, One Year Later Rich Wooding September 30, 2020 They came from places like Galicia in Ukraine and Zahle in Lebanon. Or Italy or Ireland or Poland or Germany. They settled in Ritchey Town, Bethlehem, North Park and, especially, South Wheeling. The carried ...
Paw Paw Season in West Virginia Melissa Rebholz September 23, 2020 “Now when you pick a paw paw or a prickly pear and you pick a raw paw, next time beware.” - The Jungle Book, 1967. As a late-70’s baby and child of the 80’s, I had only ever heard of a paw paw in the animate...
Nelson Jordan Center a Place of Refuge Ron Scott Jr. September 22, 2020 Weelunk is committed to telling Wheeling’s story. Our goal is to encourage conversation and engage everyone in what’s happening here. As city officials are determining what the future holds for the Nelson Jorda...
Bygone Comebacks: Drive-In Movies Alex Panas September 16, 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...
Osiris Shriners and Monument Place: A Storied Saga of Service Ellen Brafford McCroskey September 15, 2020 Now home to the Osiris Shrine, the magnificent stone mansion at 91 Kruger (Cruger) St. in Wheeling was once home to Wheeling socialite Lydia Boggs Shepherd Cruger from the time it was built in 1798 until the ti...
Skating Through a Pandemic: New Hobby Offers Joy and Community During COVID Miranda Tharp September 14, 2020 Skating Through a Pandemic Before 2020 came, I vowed to take on roller skating as a hobby. Growing up, I spent a lot of weekends at the local roller rink in Moundsville, WV. At the age of eight, my mom threw m...
Drag Culture Is About Family Rosemary Ketchum September 11, 2020 “You’re born naked and the rest is drag.” — Ru Paul Definition: A drag queen or king is a person, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female or male gender signifiers and gender...
Men of Change Help 400 Students with Back-to-School Giveaway. Weelunk Staff September 10, 2020 As children from across the Ohio Valley head back to the classroom, Men of Change hosted a drive-thru school supplies giveaway in Wheeling to help families in need of extra assistance. Men of Change, a group of...
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...
Petition Back Story: Park Grad Says Racism Affects All Nora Edinger September 8, 2020 Editor’s note: In an ongoing commitment to discussing race and community, today’s Weelunk post offers the story behind an anti-racism petition drive organized by 2018 Wheeling Park High School grad Hinal Pujara...
Connecting a Large Community — Clientele Presents: Appalachian Sound and Color Kyle Knox September 7, 2020 Clientele Presents: Appalachian Sound and Color is a new podcast by Will Wallace, Logan Schmitt and Corey Knollinger. They’re all local creative young people with a love for Appalachia and the city they call home — Wheeling.
Ice Cream, You Scream … Summertime Treats on the Move Rich Wooding September 4, 2020 Youngstown, Ohio, the early 1920s: Harry Burt starts freezing wooden sticks inside chocolate-covered ice cream bars so you could eat the product without using utensils. Soon thereafter, he hit the road, selling...
Come Along on a Virtual Garden Tour Phyllis Sigal September 2, 2020 Gardening -- whether for aesthetics, for vegetables or for medicinals -- goes back thousands of years. This year, in the time of the coronavirus, gardening has seen a resurgence, offering a healthy dose of beau...
‘Orchidelirium’ Reflects Adelaide Stifel’s Scientific and Artistic Talents Linda Comins August 31, 2020 The title of Oglebay Institute’s current exhibit -- “Orchidelirium” -- suggests Victorian mania, but its true inspiration draws upon a steadying influence of scientific knowledge and artistic sensibility. Th...
Wheeling Trails Lead Cyclists to Adventure, Friendship and Fun Jessica Broverman August 26, 2020 You can ask any avid bicycle rider, “What is it that makes riding a bicycle enjoyable?” And a cyclist will tell you it is relaxing, exciting and stress relieving. One of the best aspects of the activity is y...
Quarantine Comics and Cartoons Natalie Kovacs August 21, 2020 At Weelunk, we’re all about keeping you connected to your community. Since that looks a little different right now, we’re bringing you ways to engage while staying safe and healthy. We hope Weelunk ca...
