A park?
OK, a park. Let’s go see a park, Eriks Janelsins thought when an invitation was extended.
A park, though?
But then Janelsins encountered the work of former CEO Randy Worls and his staff on what he believed was an anonymous hilltop in Ohio County, W.Va. That was in June 2000, and a month later he found himself to be a resident a month later.
These days, Janelsins is the president and chief executive officer of the Oglebay Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation devoted to raising private funds to aid the welfare, maintenance, and future development of Oglebay and Wheeling parks, as well as their affiliated organizations and programs.
Oglebay has made regional and national headlines for a number of years because of the annual Festival of Lights, the highly respected golf courses, the Good Zoo, Oglebayfest, and threnowned Wilson Lodge. It is the people of Wheeling and throughout the Upper Ohio Valley, though, that has guided him, the members of the Wheeling Park Commission, and the staffs at both parks.
In fact. the COVID-19 pandemic exposed them all them all to something very special.
How did you arrive at Oglebay and why have you decided to dedicate your professional career to enhancing and preserving Wheeling’s two municipal parks
Ray George (former USEPA state liaison officer) recruited me to Wheeling to work as part of a partnership focused on community-based environmental initiatives. He called me one afternoon shortly after college graduation and spent three and a half hours telling me why I should move to Wheeling, W.Va and the history and tradition of Oglebay Park.
I’ll admit that I had to look up Wheeling in the atlas, but I traveled the five hours across I-70 to Oglebay that June (from Indianapolis) to interview and learn more about the project. I still remember the drive up the hill on W.Va. Route 88 (my ears popped) and my first time driving into Oglebay (the London Plane trees that line the drive into the Zoo). I didn’t know a park like this existed.
To that point, my life experiences told me that a park was a small strip of grass with a playground and maybe a picnic shelter. Between the scope of the operations, the hills, the view of Schenk Lake from the dining room, the flowers (hanging baskets), the attention to detail in the maintenance of the grounds, and recreational and educational programs for the youth of Ohio County, it was a concept and idea that changed my perception of what the word “park” could mean. Then, to learn its history, the charitable gifts, the independent business operation, it took me a long time to understand how it all worked.
But, from that first visit, it was clear just how important this park was to so many. I realized that our essential work at Oglebay and Wheeling parks is to combat some of the most pressing and challenging issues of our generation: helping children to be more active, healthy, and happy; bringing families together for multi-generational experiences; providing meaningful employment; and creating a funding model that isn’t reliant on limited tax dollars. One of the many things I’ve learned working with Randy Worls is that all of this work is really about the people of Wheeling. The work he’s championed for 66 years is really all about finding creative ways to ensure the people of Wheeling have the best public park anywhere.
Local residents have noticed a plethora of improvements during the last few years, so can you offer any hints concerning what possibly could be next?
One of the things I appreciate about working with David Lindelow (CEO of the Wheeling Park Commission) and the members of the Commission is their deliberate planning. This spring, we are completing millions of dollars of enhancements to the parks. But that is only possible because of the work done over the previous 24 months to both plan the projects and secure gifts from generous donors. Recent projects to renovate the Oglebay Cottages, hotel rooms, and meeting rooms will continue. These improvements have received incredibly positive reviews from both the local community and out-of-town guests, and we will expand this work as its needed for the financial health of the parks.
One of the unique programs at Oglebay is the National Training Center. For over 50 years, Oglebay has been home for continuing education and training for thousands of professionals annually, and we have a plan to expand these programs to new audiences and using new technology. We are excited to work with a number of community partners to expand on the mission of Wheeling Park as a dynamic community education and recreation center.
We are excited to support Dr. Joe Greathouse and the team at the Oglebay Good Zoo (the only accredited zoo in W.Va.) with new habitats and renovations. We are excited to find new ways that parks can improve the mental and physical health of the community. We are excited to uncover the best ways to create fun events, classes, and camps that everyone in Wheeling will enjoy. We are excited to challenge ourselves to define what a great park looks like for the next 100 years.
How difficult has it been during this COVID-19 pandemic to continue your work to further secure the future of both parks?
I think the biggest challenge, conceptually, was to find ways for the parks to support the community. The work that we do (and love to do) is to bring large groups of people together, and that wasn’t safe. The team found ways through promoting the gardens, trails, and the serenity of the parks as ways for everyone to escape, if only for an hour, the stress and anxiety that many experienced during the spring months.
I do think that in times of crises, the community rallies around those places and institutions that are most important to them. For example, donations to the Oglebay Foundation are up 61 percent compared to our previous year, and we are so grateful for everyone that found ways to support the parks, the Oglebay Good Zoo, and our associates, and we continue on track to achieve our five-year plan.
What role has food played in the success of Oglebay during the last five years, and why was it a chosen concentration by park officials?
Food has become such an important part of travel and a motivation for people to travel, but we have to remember that Oglebay Park’s history with food goes back to Mr. Oglebay’s original vision – his model farm, Waddington, where he studied the best ways to grow crops. We felt strongly that we could create authentic experiences, rooted in our history, that would complement our current efforts. The key, though, is always the people.
Four years ago, Kevin Blake joined Oglebay as the Director of Food and Beverage and brought with him the passion and experience to transform our food and beverage program. Banquets (conferences, group meetings, weddings, social events) are a key element to our successful business model, and Kevin quickly transformed that experience with new techniques, quality of produce and proteins, and service standards.
One of Oglebay’s key assets is the outdoor spaces, so we transformed buildings into new uses. The Garden Bistro has been such a success as a new experience not currently available in the region. Next, we went about transforming the historic Ski Lodge facility into a BBQ restaurant that combines dynamic views of the western sky, an outdoor firepit, family games, and great food and drink. It’s been such a rewarding part of the recent work in the parks to see our restaurants once again filled with Wheeling neighbors and friends.
Although everything but golf was shuttered in the parks for the last two months, both Wheeling Park and Oglebay have been crowded with families. Do you feel that somehow the pandemic has reminded residents of the Upper Ohio Valley the gift given to us by Col. Oglebay?
I do think that more people enjoyed walking through the Bissonnette Gardens to witness the tulips, hiked along the Arboretum Trails with family members and dogs, explored the nature trails, or used areas of the park for physical fitness than I have previously recalled. Families found ways to use the park — climbing trees, wading through streams, climbing hillsides that were new (or long forgotten).
And many did this together, as a family. Without the strained schedules of our “normal” lives, I saw friends enjoy the park benches with a book in the sunshine or families having lazy picnics on a blanket along the expansive lawns. I know that I personally logged more miles hiking the trails than normal.
But we also know that weddings, family reunions, and a long list of special events and fundraisers could not occur this spring, and those are all life-changing experiences that take place in the park every day during a typical spring and build upon the memories that we all have at Oglebay and Wheeing parks.
I would guess those events are moments when brides and grooms, extended families, and the community all value the parks and thank Mr. Oglebay. What I did sense is that at a time when all of the world felt closed, the parks felt open, and the residents of the Upper Ohio Valley valued all of the hard work from everyone at Oglebay and Wheeling parks to make that so.
