AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BOARD OF THE WHEELING HALL OF FAME:
While I’m at it …
Why the heck has George Kellas not been selected for his proper enshrinement into the Wheeling Hall of Fame?
It would be very fitting, especially since those famous folks are honored inside a building, Wesbanco Arena, to which he brought a championship semi-pro football team and economic impact for the city of Wheeling after celebrating thousands of the valley’s student athletes with both local TV stations and a few radio stations.
George Kellas. You knew him. You remember him. He was ESPN for WTRF and WTOV before ESPN existed, and Kellas raced from game to game to promote as many high schools, players, and cheerleaders as possible. And it was on purpose. Not a demand from management. George did it because George wanted to do it, and it was for the students, the fans, and for the viewers.
It was for me, and it was for you, too.
The Watchdog
Kellas was a radio host, too, on WOMP and WWVA before he became the co-founder of The Watchdog, a community radio station that has grown from one AM frequency to a conglomerate including two AM signals and a pair of FM frequencies. The station features local and state talk for 12 hours per day before local sports take over during the evenings. If there are no high school or college games, a sports simulcast broadcast begins at 6 p.m.
That was the vision George possessed when it launched on Sept. 1, 2004, and then, on Sept. 17, 2004, George Kellas and his team guided people home even though many roadways and neighborhoods were inaccessible because of flash flooding.
Kellas Legend
He calmed them, he directed them, he reunited kids with parents, and Kellas saved hope. His legend deepened and Kellas became, somehow, more ingrained into the fabric of our valley during that one, single weekend.
And then we lost him. Less than five years later, Jan. 27, 2009, was the final broadcast of “The George Kellas Show,” and on Feb. 19, 2009, George, the forever voice of the Valley, passed after battling esophageal cancer at the freaking age of 53.
But you remember him because he made you laugh and he made you shake your head in enjoyment, and that’s because George helped you appreciate where we live. Now that’s a Hall of Famer.
Sincerely,
The Kellas Krazies
(Photos provided by the Kellas family)
Related: An Open Letter… OVAC Hall of Fame
