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Like many teens of my youth, part-time after-school jobs were an essential and expected part of our upbringing. From the time I was old enough to "work," I held various jobs that began with neighborhood babysitting jobs.
Then in junior high, many of us worked at Oglebay or Wheeling parks doing odd jobs from checking clothes baskets at the swimming pools to cleaning cages at the outdoor nature areas at Oglebay. My brothers spent time tending the snakes in the snake pit at the park. They even brought some of the big snakes home over the winter months much to the angst of their sisters and mother.
In high school, most of us graduated to more substantial after school and weekend jobs. Wheeling was a bustling retail mecca and stores sought out extra workers especially during the holidays. Since I went to high school at Wheeling Central Catholic, it was an easy walk for me from the school at 14th and Eoff streets to the downtown areas of Main and Market streets.
My first downtown job during high school was during the pre-Christmas weeks. I worked at the jewelry counter located near the front entrance to L.S. Good and Co. department store. The location provided a front row seat to the comings and goings of shoppers. The store was a destination spot for families wanting to see the talking Christmas tree that sat in the front window on Market Street.
Thankfully I never had to take a turn inside that talking tree. Other young workers did so and would shout out greetings to passing visitors and those who stopped to chat. It was a fun gimmick that became a mainstay at the landmark store until its demise.
After high school, I went on to work full-time at Hornes of Wheeling. This was another family-owned and operated business on Main Street. It, too, hired many young workers who went on to make their mark in retail careers. While working retail often meant long hours on your feet, it also was a place where younger workers could learn plenty about the business from the more seasoned clerks.
Both Goods and Hornes were owned by well-known and respected Jewish families. Their reputations were solid in both the business community and at Temple Shalom in Wheeling.
I was raised Catholic and never had much interaction with Jewish children in the community as we went to different schools and did not pray in the same houses of worship. However, working for the two most prominent Jewish families in the city provided me with insight into their way of life that I had not known.
My parents, too, embraced the friendships of numerous Jewish people in our town.
One of my mother's best friends was Helen Levenson whose family operated Reichart's Furniture Store. Helen and her husband Bob were regular visitors to our family home and picnics. We called Helen our "Jewish Grandmother" until the day she died.
Looking back on those days, I cannot recall ever hearing slurs against the Jewish people in our town. I only knew them as warm, caring people who put family first. Today's unrest in the world that once again places the people of Jewish faith in peril is heartbreaking. I never thought such evil behavior would resurrect itself once again and especially not in this country.
Whether you stand, kneel or sit, please pray for peace.
Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.