There’s great food and terrific music, but when it comes down to it, this premiere event in downtown Wheeling is all about the kids.
The annual Party on the Plaza Music and Food Festival will take place this Saturday beginning at 5 p.m. at Market Plaza featuring three bands and four top-notch food trucks. Zane Run, the Franchise Band, and Radio Tokyo will perform, and Izzy’s, Mason Dixon BBQ, Gringo Tacos, and So Nuts for Donuts will provide the food.
The local tent of the Saints & Sinners organization, a men’s club that raises money to give away to local non-profits, created the fundraiser several years ago. These days, though, the Party has a different look and feel.
“This event was once known as the ‘Party in the Park’ and we had it at a couple of locations in Oglebay, but those were with about 300-400 people with food and a band,” explained Paul Smith, the event chair for the Saints & Sinners. “The Party on the Plaza Music and Food Festival is more of a three-band event with a few great food trucks for more than a thousand people. We made a good decision to change it up a bit.
“It’s important for us to put on a great event because we partnered with Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration a few years ago to raise funds for WVU Medicine’s Children’s Hospital, and we’ve done very well,” he said. “Children’s Hospital is important to all of us in the state because of the care that’s available there and only there. We’re proud to be involved.”
As the event chair, Smith leads a committee of eight individuals and coordinates the volunteers from the Saints & Sinners and from the Central Catholic High Hockey Club.
“Moving the event to the Plaza has made a nice difference and having more music and more food has helped us grow the Party,” Smith said. “It’s the first time the Plaza has been used for this kind of event, and it’s really a perfect fit and we’re happy people keep coming back. Since we started there a few years ago, a few other groups have used the plaza area, and that’s great for the city.
“We have a committee, and we receive a lot of assistance from our friends at Panhandle Cleaning and Bob (Contraguerro) Jr. has been a tremendous help every year. It’s not common for a platinum sponsor to be so hands-on, and we’re thankful. Panhandle’s Bob Heldreth is always there when we need him, too,” he explained. “We get a ton of help from Howard Karnell and the Central Catholic Hockey Club because they set up and tear down everything and they do the trash patrols and things like that. That’s why we give them a nice donation for their work.”
WVU Medicine opened the new, $215 million Children’s Hospital in Morgantown on September 29, 2022, with 150 beds and concentrations on birthing, cancer, critical care and trauma, and heart and neuroscience. The facility also operates pediatric and neonatal intensive care units, operating rooms, labs, and an imaging center.
“It’s an impressive place,” Smith said. “And Children’s Hospital is utilized by people in all counties in West Virginia, and that’s why it’s so important to us, to the Contraguerro family, and to everyone else connected to the Party on the Plaza that we continue doing everything we can to support such a life-saving hospital.
“We have many families here in the Wheeling area who have received miracles for their children,” he added. “This event helps to keep those miracles coming.”
Tickets will be available at the gate and are available now at partyontheplaza.org.
