May 7 at Noon: Bloomered, Be-Whiskered, & Barnstorming! Wheeling Baseball Oddities
Download the May-June 2024 brochure HERE.
We will explore the strange world of Barnstorming baseball in Wheeling during the early Twentieth Century, when all manner of diverse and sometimes downright odd professional teams came to town to play the locals, often in front of sold-out crowds. Learn about women’s teams who played long before Rose Gacioch and the All-American Girls Pro League, a hirsute team from Michigan with amazing talent, and much more. Presented by Seán Duffy.
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Get Your Hot Dogs Here!
Q: What goes better with Baseball than Hot Dogs?
A: Not much. That is to say: NOTHING.
That’s why Melissa from Midge’s Kitchen will have her hot dog cart at the 16th Street entrance to the Library on May 7 in time for our Baseball Barnstorming Lunch With Baseball program! She has it all, from classic chili dogs to vegan options! See menu below. Plus, we’ll be giving away vouchers for FREE dogs to attendees only. So come early and have a great day at the ballpark — er — Library!
May 14 at Noon: Following the Silence – Poetry with Marc Harshman
In “Following the Silence,” Marc Harshman, Poet Laureate of West Virginia, offers up his newest full-length collection of poems and demonstrates his dependably keen observational skills that elevate landscapes and people into an almost mythic realm. In many of the poems there is, as well, a threatening presence from whose grim circumstances he wrestles, if not hope, glimmers of its possibilities.
Marc Harshman is the author of 14 nationally acclaimed children’s books including FALLINGWATER: THE BUILDING OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S MASTERPIECE, co-authored with Anna Egan Smucker. His collections of poetry include WOMAN IN RED ANORAK, winner of the Blue Lynx Prize, BELIEVE WHAT YOU CAN, winner of the Weatherford Award from the Appalachian Studies Association [WVU Press], DARK HILLS OF HOME, [Monongahela Books, 2022], and his newest volume just released and from which he’ll be reading at OCPL is FOLLOWING THE SILENCE, Press 53, Winston-Salem, NC. He has also just been named the Appalachian Heritage Writer for 2024 by Shepherd University’s Appalachian Studies program. He holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale University Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh. Appointed in 2012 by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, Harshman is the seventh poet laureate of West Virginia.
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May 21 at Noon: SOURCE of Resilience: The Story of a Refugee Family from Ukraine
More than two years after the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine by Russia, ten million Ukrainians still cannot return to their homes. The decision to leave Ukraine was a harrowing one for Roman and Olga Panivnyk. Torn between loyalty to their country, concern for Olga’s elderly parents and responsibility for their three children, they ultimately left to Poland. From there, the family was able to continue to Olga’s sister’s home in Pennsylvania. In this talk, Olya Panivnyk will recount their journey from Kyiv to Wheeling, share what was the SOURCE of their resilience along that journey, and describe how we may support those whom they left behind.
Olga Panivnyk graduated from Dnipropetrovsk State University, Ukraine, with a major in International Business. She is the Founder of BeChange, Human Capital Advisor, Executive and Business Coach, Speaker, and Executive with 25 years of experience in HR, Finance, M&A, and Change Management in global FMCG, Manufacturing, and Technology businesses. She is a resilient Ukrainian who has recently started the North American branch of her coaching and consulting business out of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan area. Olga is proud to have a legacy of the business and HR leaders she has inspired and developed who are successful across multiple industries and geographies today.
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May 28 at Noon: Japanese Food Workshop
Our friend Manami Kawazoe from the Japanese Outreach Initiative at West Liberty University returns to talk more about the Japanese style of eating and food. We will make mochi(rice cake) as a dessert. The traditional mochi is sweet red bean paste inside but ours will include chocolate and other flavored pastes.
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June 4 at Noon: A History of Cooey-Bentz
Randy Cooey, W.R Cooey’s great grandson and Emeritus Professor of Economics at Bethany College, and Jeff Knierim, great-great nephew of Herman Bentz and the company’s president until it closed in 2002, will present the history of Cooey-Bentz Company. Founded in 1897, Cooey-Bentz was a landmark home furnishings business in South Wheeling, playing an important role in the fabric of the community. In addition to selling home furnishings, the company operated a funeral home that was sold to the Kepner family in the 1930’s. Although known for providing quality products and service to its customers, Cooey-Bentz is best remembered for its legendary Christmas window displays, “Toyland,” and of course, Santa Claus. Join Randy and Jeff as they reminisce about the “good old days” at Cooey-Bentz!
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June 11 at Noon: Bloomsday in Wheeling
Patrick Hastings, English professor, author of “The Guide to James Joyce’s Ulysses,” and curator of ulyssesguide.com, who will be at the Library for Wheeling’s first ever Bloomsday, a worldwide but Irish-centric celebration of the book and the genius of James Joyce. Ours will feature a virtual walking tour of Leopold Bloom’s Dublin led by Mr. Hastings, dramatic readings, trivia, music, food, a final discussion of Ulysses, and more! Dress like it’s 1904! And enter the James Joyce look-alike contest to win!
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June 18 at Noon: The Book of Quint with Ryan Dacko
“1100 men went into the water…” So begins the haunting monologue by actor Robert Shaw as grizzled shark hunter Quint in the movie “Jaws,” in which he describes his experience as a survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in the dying days of the Second World War. The sinking left hundreds of crew members floating in the ocean. Most died from exposure and the worst mass shark attack in recorded history. As we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the “Jaws” movie, host of the podcast “The Jaw Obsession,” Ryan Dacko has written the definitive prequel to the Jaws novel, telling the back story of Quint. Beginning with him adrift after the sinking, and following him first to San Francisco and then to Amity Island, we read of how and when he acquires his many scars, of how he comes to own his boat “The Orca,” and how he develops his technique for hunting sharks. Dacko is a US Coast Guard veteran, licensed underwater welder, and professional commercial deep-sea diver. He last visited our state in 2012 when he worked on a massive wind storm that took down power lines. “I loved the state and always wanted to go back,” he said. “This is a great opportunity.” Enter the Quint look-alike contest to win!
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June 18 (6:30 pm): Special Edition People’s University –Misconceptions About West Virginia Statehood
WVU History professor Dr. Hal Gorby will discuss some of the common misconceptions about how West Virginia became a state. The program will cover some of the intense divisions among those involved.
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June 25 at Noon: Our Flag Was Still There: The Story of the Star Spangled Banner
Our Flag Was Still There details the improbable two-hundred-year journey of the original Star-Spangled Banner—from Fort McHenry in 1814, when Francis Scott Key first saw it, to the Smithsonian in 2023—and the enduring family who defended, kept, hid, and ultimately donated the most famous flag in American history. Tom McMillan, former VP/Communications for the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, tells a story as no one has before. Digging deep into the archives of Fort McHenry and the Smithsonian, accessing never-before-published letters and documents, and presenting rare photos from a variety of sources, McMillan follows the flag on an often-perilous journey through three centuries. Our Flag Was Still There provides new insight into an intriguing period of U.S. history, offering a “story behind the story” account of one of the country’s most treasured relics.
