It began simply as a dad having some friends over to watch sports via a single outdoor television with one picnic bench and a single firepit between two pine trees. It would soon become 8 TVs, a full kitchen, stadium seating, two firepits, a lot more friends and family, and, eventually, a business venture.
The Pine Room Podcast had a very simple, but thoughtfully-orchestrated beginning. “We had floated the idea of doing something more for quite a while, as many of us thought we had enough personality and enough ‘talent’ to make people laugh and do something special,” explained Jub Delbrugge, co-founder of The Pine Room Podcast.
I was lucky enough to get to ask this group of Wheeling natives some questions about what makes The Pine Room Podcast so special.
What about your podcast separates it from others? What makes it unique?
“So, one thing that some people might not know is that our official business name is ‘The Pine Room Studios’ and we’re slowly building that name up as we’ve grown to do more than just our singular podcast.
We have a large cast of ‘talent’ that appears on each episode of The Pine Room Podcast and all of our content. There are around 9-12 of us that are involved with the business/show which range from 65 years old to 19 years old.
We all have very different opinions about different topics; different senses of humor; different outlooks on life; and MANY different interests; so, there’s definitely a very diverse dynamic within our group. Sometimes we disagree and debate, other times we just make each other laugh but at the end of the day we all love each other and nothing is taken to heart within the group, and we’re willing to always learn from each other. So, that definitely opens the door for unique content and conversation.”
What topics have you covered that your current listeners have enjoyed most?
“We’ve covered a vast variety of topics over the past year and a half. On The Pine Room Podcast we’ve covered anything you can think of. For the most part, we try to keep the conversations lighthearted and to put comedic spins on history and other news that’s gone on across the country and around the world.
We tell stories and talk hypothetical questions that inspire some very entertaining debates. We’ve found that a lot of people just enjoy a laugh and some of the wild takes that many of our different personalities
offer. That being said, not everything is comedy and laughs. We’ve had a number of serious debates/conversations be it with guests or ourselves that involve heavy subjects, politics, and controversial points of view.”
Tell us more about The Pine Room Lager. How did this collab come about? Where can we find it?
“Beer is something that has brought our group together over the past 10 or so years. Most of our guys are avid beer drinkers and when we started to brainstorm what kinds of items we could potentially put our name to, beer was the first thing that came to mind.
From there, Brian ‘Soup’ Campbell got in contact with the folks from Big Timber Brewing Company out of Elkins, WV and after a few Zoom meetings and a meeting at their Brewery in Elkins, we were fortunate enough to start a partnership.
We designed the cans and Big Timber took it from there. Since then, we’ve had launch parties at Generations in Wheeling, Kegler’s in Morgantown, The Pitch in Dunbar, and Basil’s in Weirton. The Pine Room Lager also just took second place in the Mountaineer Brewfest with Big Timber coming in first in the People’s Choice award.
It can be found in many restaurants around Wheeling on tap and in cans in Kroger, Smith Oil, Gumby’s and many more in store locations around West Virginia.”
In a short amount of time, The Pine Room Podcast team has quickly made a name for themselves and had the chance to talk with an amazing collection of guests. From former Wheeling Park Patriot and current Los Angeles Dodger Michael Groves, to Wheeling University alum and current Miami Heat power forward Haywood Highsmith, the Pine Room Podcast continues to provide listeners with interesting and entertaining content with noteworthy guests. The crew has also interviewed Alex Highsmith of the Pittsburgh Steelers, WVU Women’s Basketball Coach Mark Kellogg and Mike Florio of NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk.
In addition to Jub, the nine original members of The Pine Room Podcast include Mark Delbrugge, Matt Watson, Chris Pavlic, Jeff Doyle, Tyler Cooley, Jarrett Delbrugge, Brian Campbell, and Luke Doyle. If you want to listen for yourselves, you can tune in live on Mondays from 2-3 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays from noon – 3 p.m. Mondays are a weekend recap, Tuesdays are a variety show with world-to-local news, pop-culture commentary, history, science, and more! For sports fans, Fridays are Football Fridays where they cover high school and college football from around the region. You can listen to The Pine Room Podcast anywhere podcasts are found (Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Play, etc.), plus watch content on their YouTube channel, The Pine Room Studios. Learn more about The Pine Room Podcast and check out their merchandise at thepineroomshop.com.
• Lindsay Ammirante is a Wheeling native but currently resides in Columbus, Ohio. Born and raised in Elm Grove, she attended St. Vincent de Paul School and then Wheeling Central Catholic High School. She graduated from Bethany College with a bachelor’s degree in Education and is in her 16th year as a Special Education teacher. She also is a full-time student at The Ohio State University, pursuing her PhD in Special Education. Her breaks and most weekends are spent in Wheeling with her nephews, Milano and Sorrento, and the rest of her family and friends.