WEEREAD: At Home in the Heart of Appalachia Anna Cipoletti January 25, 2021 A poignant memoir of family and place, At Home in the Heart of Appalachia’s opening chapter begins with author John O’Brien traveling for his father Jim’s funeral. A strained relationship with his father and hi...
Art Flourishes During Pandemic – Student Artists Honored at Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center Misty Klug January 23, 2021 There is no shortage of art being created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists, of all ages, from around the globe, continue to draw, paint, sculpt and photograph—in spite of and because of—difficult times. Em...
Resolve to get Involved Jessica Broverman January 22, 2021 With the start of a new year comes new opportunities to uplift and lend a helping hand in your community. Wheeling is rich with volunteer programs that are suitable for just about everyone. While Wheeling is on...
EVENTS: Things to do in the Ohio Valley Weelunk Staff January 21, 2021 PU Livestream: Physical Science - The Joy of Discovery, Class 2: Scientific Method The second class in the latest People’s University series will be a panel discussion with Mary Ellen Cassidy, Erin Duffy, Stac...
New Deal Projects at Oglebay Park Anna Cipoletti January 20, 2021 As a staple institution in the Wheeling community, Oglebay Park serves as a place for entertainment, recreation, history, and celebration. While many people are familiar with the history of Earl W. Oglebay and ...
Why Wheeling: Lena Slivchenko Rosemary Ketchum January 19, 2021 Longtime trends have shown that quality community recreation is a driving force for attracting new residents to a city while retaining existing ones. From Oglebay Park and the Wesbanco arena to Centre Market an...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration Jennifer Materkoski January 16, 2021 Bio information provided by Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. For nearly 40 years, the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration has taken place in Wheeling. A joint effort among the celebration committee, Wheel...
Oliver’s Pies Voted Best Pie in West Virginia Alex Panas January 15, 2021 Whether you are celebrating a special occasion, or just in the mood for a sweet treat, Wheelingites know that Oliver’s Pies is the place to go. Now, thanks to Yelp and USA Today, Oliver’s Pies has earned the ti...
WATCH: The Before & After Building Restoration of Mugshots Coffee Shop Wheeling Heritage Media January 13, 2021 Gabe Hays had his eye on 1109 Main Street long before he purchased it from the city in 2019. The building first caught his attention in the early 2000s when he was overseeing a landscaping project at Heritage P...
The Giant Wheeling Tabernacle Built in Only Four Days Emma Wiley January 11, 2021 In only four days between January and February of 1912—over a century ago—hundreds of Wheeling residents came together to build an enormous low-roofed building on the eastern side of 26th Street in Center Wheel...
New Year Starts with New WLU President Provided January 9, 2021 West Liberty University’s new leader, Dr. W. Franklin Evans is finding his first days in office packed with introductions and meetings. Named the university’s 37th president on Nov. 19, 2020, Evans officially t...
Wheeling’s Best Virtual Fitness Classes Jennifer Materkoski January 8, 2021 Oftentimes the new year is a time to place a renewed focus on physical fitness and lifestyle changes. While gyms and fitness studios may be open for in-person workouts, many still prefer the added safety of exe...
A Love Letter to Winter Vegetables Melissa Rebholz January 5, 2021 I haven’t always loved winter vegetables. It wasn’t until I started managing farmer’s markets in my 20’s in NYC that I learned the names and uses for many of the gnarly-shaped roots that covered the farmers’ ta...
South Wheeling Residents Sparking Change in Their Neighborhood Rosemary Ketchum January 4, 2021 Wheeling is made of many different neighborhoods. Each with its own distinct culture and history. South Wheeling, which was once known as a densely-populated manufacturing hub is being reimagined and revived by...
‘Tis the Time for Calendar Updates: Funky Holiday Edition Emma Wiley January 1, 2021 For many of us, as we turn over our calendars to the new year of 2021, it means updating with the new dates, birthdays, and holidays. Everyone has the main dates covered, but Weelunk has a list of wacky other h...
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...
The Era of the Ironmen, Wheeling’s Semi-Pro Football Team Rich Wooding December 29, 2020 It was a chance encounter. A Columbus, OH attorney who had just launched a mid-west semi-professional football league came to Wheeling, WV for a federal court matter and saw Wheeling Island Stadium. The s...
WATCH: Ziegenfelder – A Look Inside Wheeling Heritage Media December 28, 2020 Since 1861, Ziegenfelder has been bringing smiles to people’s faces near and far with their sweet treats. The family-owned company began with producing candy, but over time has evolved to become one of the larg...
10 Fast Facts About Wheeling’s Doughboy Provided December 26, 2020 Wheeling’s Doughboy monument is back and better than ever. After a longer than expected stay at Venus Bronze Works in Detroit due to COVID-19, the 89-year-old monument has been returned to its home at Wheeling ...
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...
Ringing in a Vaccine Emma Wiley December 22, 2020 Imagine all of the church and school bells ringing and all of the factories and trains whistling in Wheeling all at the same time. Incredibly loud right? That cacophony of noise lasted two long minutes at no...
WEEREAD: Holiday Reading for Children Anna Cipoletti December 21, 2020 A Day for Skating by Sarah Sullivan Written in simple rhyming couplets with no more than two lines to a page, Sarah Sullivan’s A Day for Skating is perfect to share with children who are just learning to r...
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...
Seafood Traditions: Coleman’s Fish Market and the Feast of the Seven Fishes Emma Wiley December 17, 2020 This time of the year is usually one of celebration, good will, spending time with family and friends, and shopping. But, few places get as busy as Coleman’s Fish Market in Centre Market, Wheeling. At first ...
Add This Wheeling Icon To Your Holiday Mailing List Alex Panas December 16, 2020 The holiday season is about spreading cheer, and one member of the Wheeling community could use some extra kindness this year. Charles Waldrum is known by many Wheeling natives as the bearded bicyclist who i...
The History and Tradition of Holiday Cards Miranda Tharp December 15, 2020 Many families have a tradition of sending out holiday cards every year. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza, we all love receiving holiday mail. But have you ever considered when or who sen...
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...
The Magic of Tradition at E. Black & Son Nursery Kelly Strautmann 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...
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...
WEELUNK BOOK REVIEW: Shiner Anna Cipoletti December 2, 2020 In her stunning debut novel Shiner, Amy Jo Burns explores friendship and grief in the mountains of West Virginia. Teenaged Wren Bird and her family live an isolated and antiquated life in Randolph County, nearl...
A River Runs Through It: Making a Houseboat into a Home Taylor Abbott December 1, 2020 “Cozy, isn’t it?” “Cozy?!... A good fart would give you a concussion!” That hilarious exchange came from none other than Walter Matthau’s and Jack Lemmon’s characters in the 1997 movie Out to Sea upon ent...
No Rest for the Dead: The History of Moving Bodies in Wheeling’s Cemeteries Emma Wiley November 30, 2020 Wandering around some of Wheeling’s graveyards, you might see some gravestones with dates older than the cemetery itself. How can that be? Answer: For many residents of Wheeling’s existing cemeteries, thi...
Cultural Appropriation in Wheeling: History of the Improved Order of Red Men Emma Wiley November 27, 2020 Editors Note: Weelunk, as a subsidiary of Wheeling Heritage, is committed to telling diverse, nuanced, and difficult histories, especially when those narratives occur in our own backyard. The line between cultu...
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...
Reexamining Wheeling’s Mingo Statue Emma Wiley November 16, 2020 The Mingo statue has long been a recognizable landmark on Wheeling’s landscape. It has been featured on the cover of tourism brochures and included in the Smithsonian Art Inventory. Recently, it has even been u...
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...
Why Wheeling: John and Camille Devlin Rosemary Ketchum November 11, 2020 According to The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, “the arts and culture sector contributes $1.5 billion to West Virginia’s economy, representing 3.5% of the state’s GDP—a larger share than other indu...
