Columns

Service With A Smile?

This may come as a surprise to some of my younger readers, but there was actually a time when you could go into a clothing store and there would be a clerk there to assist you. I know that is a strange concept to a generation that is accustomed to picking up a cellphone or turning on a computer and shopping online. The number of bricks and mortar stores, now long gone from your downtown streets, served my generation well. I worked for one of those department stores — Hornes of Wheeling — when I was in high school and shortly after I graduated. Hornes was just one of those ...

Spring-ing Into Action

So here it is, spring. For a generation of baby boomers, I’ll bet most of you can commiserate with me on what spring really meant growing up. In my parent’s house, it meant spring cleaning. This was no small task in a three-story old Victorian home inhabited by 12 children, two parents, a dog or two, a cat and even some rabbits at one time. Imagine just trying to maneuver around a playpen that was eternally set up in the TV/living room or the chrome and padded high chair in the kitchen. Then there were overflowing toy boxes, hockey sticks or golf clubs parked by the front door ...

What Would Harry Think Now?

A recent posting online in Memories of Wheeling by Mike Minder conjured up a slew of memories for those old enough to remember. The posting was a look back at April 7, 1964, when a “Break-Through Ceremony” was held at the corner of Baker and McColloch streets which was to become the east portal for the Wheeling Tunnel. The twin tunnels planned for Interstate 70 and U.S. 250 would be carved — or blasted — out of the side of the mountain that stood in the path of progress. It took three years and a whopping $6.9 million to complete the tubes. That was a lot of money back then. ...

Mad As Hell

I couldn’t help myself. Despite my husband’s and brother-in-law’s urging to just “let it go,” I didn’t. I think something in me simply snapped. In an instant I was out of my seat inside the McDonald’s restaurant in Elm Grove last week. What brought me to my feet was anger. You see while sitting there watching a couple of preschoolers playing inside the kiddie area of the business, there were sounds and sights that caught my attention. With a clear view of the entrance to the McDonald’s parking lot, I saw and heard three small cars speeding into the lot. One by one ...

The Past Uncovered

It’s amazing what a pothole can tell us about the past. For most of my childhood years growing up in the Woodsdale area, I never knew that Bethany Pike was once a brick road. Well, at least that’s what the sizable pothole on Bethany Pike near Hamilton Avenue has shown us. In recent weeks, the surface of the road has eroded enough to unveil the hidden gem of red bricks. While I have been dodging the growing depression in the road, I also have been fascinated to know more about the road. Letting my imagination run wild, I can picture the early automobiles that first put tires on ...

Letter Perfect

The year before my mother passed away, she sat down and wrote me a letter. Although at the age of 90 her eyesight and hearing were failing, she managed to put pen to paper. Despite the challenges of her senior years, her cursive handwriting was impeccable. My mother was a believer in the written word and passed that thinking along to her children. She insisted thank-you notes be written when receiving gifts. However, my mother was also the product of a generation that wasn’t outwardly affectionate with words. Mom was raised by her father and older female relatives after her own ...