She didn’t take it for granted. She knew she was lucky, so, as soon as she could, she started to pay it back.
And Wheeling resident Debbie Joseph has continued that practice for 15 years and will again in a little more than a month when she, her husband and family, and her committee once again present the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta at Heritage Port on September 2-3. All proceeds once again will benefit the Easterseals Rehabilitation Center in Wheeling, and that’s because of 10 fingers and 10 toes.
Wait. What do appendages have to do with raceboats? That’s the obvious question, right?
Well, the answer is … nothing … except for the fact Joseph’s first born – daughter Kristen Cox – was “perfect” when she came into the world a few decades ago and that provoked Joseph to first become a volunteer at the center and then later a board member.
These days, though, it’s about donating dollars to the operation of the non-profit organization’s programs that attract children and their parents from throughout the country’s Mid Atlantic region. Easterseals, according to its mission statement, “provides exceptional services for people with disabilities or special needs and their families to live, learn, work and play in their communities,” and Joseph simply wishes to make sure that help remains right where it’s needed most.
As a person educated in microbiology, what did you feel most folks failed to understand about COVID 19?
It was extremely frustrating to listen to the things that were purported to prevent against or treat COVID – including gargling bleach and taking ivermectin – while the advice from experts in infection control and disease prevention was often ignored. We have two relatives who are at the highest levels of the infectious disease world, and we relied on them for information during the pandemic.
Ivermectin is well known as a preventative and treatment for parasites in humans and animals but has never been studied for COVID 19. But this did not stop people from passing along the fake news that it was a cure or preventative.
It also was disconcerting to find out that a medical team assigned to deal with pandemics in the United States had been eliminated a few years before COVID 19 started its killing scourge across the world.
What is better, being a mother or a grandmother?
I love being a mother – but being a grandmother is much more fun!
If you watch a sport, what is the sport, and why do you want that one?
I enjoy watching the Steelers and Mountaineers in football, and the Penguins in hockey. We follow NASCAR and other forms of car racing and have attended several races. My favorite sport currently, though, is any sport that our grandchildren are playing!
When a motorist travels over the Fort Henry Bridge during the Regatta weekend, what do you hope they think about what’s taking place on the Ohio River?
I hope they look down at the crowd in Heritage Port and 100 mph raceboats on the Ohio River and want to stop by to see what’s going on!
What upgrades to Heritage Port would you like to see take?
Heritage Port is a truly spectacular facility. The primary boating focus when it was built, however, was accommodating large river boats like the Delta Queen. It is not usable for anyone who has a boat on the river (except for the permanent dock at the Veterans Amphitheater) and is not usable for events like the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta; the point where Heritage Port meets the Ohio River is approximately 5 feet above river level.
We had to purchase our own docks to be able to bring our event to Heritage Port. If there were docks at river level available, the potential for other types of on-the-water events such as jet ski races, etc. becomes a reality for Wheeling.
The other thing that would expand this area would be a launch ramp near Heritage Port. Currently the only launch ramp available in Wheeling is on the back channel of the Island, and getting raceboats around to the main channel of the Ohio River is problematic. If a launch ramp were available, many more boats would be able to attend the Regatta; some raceboats cannot be launched by crane as the raceboats that attend our event are.
Of course, all boaters would be able to use a launch ramp on the main channel of the Ohio River. The area of Wheeling near Heritage Port is poised to experience tremendous growth, and the expansion of Heritage Port with docks and a launch ramp would enable boaters to come ashore there.
