Wheeling Mayor Denny Magruder heard a terrific idea while he was on the campaign trail earlier this year, and it was shared with the public by one of his political opponents.
Former mayoral candidate J.T. Thomas told Wheeling residents one of his initiatives as mayor would be to make efforts to restore neighborhood pride throughout the city. Thomas used Little League baseball as an example because he recalled the pride he encountered when he was younger when playing against teams like the North Wheeling Yankees, the Pike Cubs, and the Fulton Phillies when he was younger.
Thomas’s idea struck a chord with Magruder, the father of a son and two daughters himself, and he feels the new Military Banner Program is a great way to begin rebuilding pride within the Friendly City.
“It’s a terrific example of what J.T. was talking about during the campaign when he talked about our neighborhood Little League baseball teams,” Magruder explained. “This Military Banner Program will begin along some of our main roads like National Road and Zane Highway on Wheeling Island, but I believe it will grow into our neighborhoods very quickly. Maybe we’ll have a ward by ward contest to see which one will have the most banners.
“J.T. believes in neighborhood pride and so do I, and that’s why honoring our veterans in this way is going to be special for our city,” he said. “It’s all about pride in our community, and about honoring our neighbors for defending our freedoms in the military. We have a strong history here in Wheeling that dates back to the Revolutionary War, and that’s why this program is a perfect fit for our city.”
The new program has taken place in several cities in the Upper Ohio Valley, including Benwood, St. Clairsville, and Weirton, and the groundwork for Wheeling has been paved by volunteer John Larch. Not only did he bring the idea to City of Wheeling officials, but Larch also created a non-profit organization that will facilitate the program.
A Facebook page has been created and so has a website – troopbanners.com/Wheeling – and those seeking more information can call 304-281-8811. Questions can be asked by emailing organizers at Wheelingmilitarybannerprogram@gmail.com.
The two-sided banners, which will measure 24-inch-by-36-inch, are $125 each, and the payment, veteran information, and a photograph can be dropped off at three locations including the Ohio County Public Library in downtown Wheeling, Fitzsimmons Law at 1609 Warwood Avenue, and the Howard Long Wellness Center near Wheeling Hospital.
Along with National Road and Zane Highway, the banners also will be hung along W.Va. Route 2 between Warwood and downtown Wheeling. The banners will be removed for the winter months each year, cleaned, and then will be hung again in the spring.
“There are several cities in the valley who’ve adopted this initiative and it’s been very popular in everyone,” Magruder reported. “In the city of Weirton, they now have 600 of the banners and I believe we could surpass that number over time. They have the program in St. Clairsville, too, and they’ve looked great there for a couple of years now.
“We just need the participants and I’m confident they are out there because the sons and daughters of veterans can do this for their fathers, and so can any other family member,” he said. “We’re working very hard to get the word out, and we’ll also have it on the City’s website, too. We just want it out there as far as it can go.”
Home for the Holidays
The Upper Ohio Valley possesses a large population of American veterans, including those who were deployed to World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s and during the War on Terror over the past two decades.
Magruder and Larch attended last week’s Veteran Day Ceremony that was presented by the leadership of American Legion Post 1 at Wesbanco Arena, and they spoke with a number of interested individuals before and after the function.
“We kicked this program off a couple of weeks ago with a press conference on the waterfront in the area where our city honors our veterans with memorials, and our Gold Star families, too,” Magruder said. “And we wanted to have a presence at the Veterans Day tribute because we have terrific veteran organizations with Wheeling Post 1 and the VFW (#4442) who will get involved with spreading the word about the program.
“One of the best parts about this program is the fact that our American veterans are some of the humblest people there are on the planet. They served our country and protected our rights, and that’s why we have our country today,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun watching this all come together.”
Magruder, who was employed for 36.5 years as the general manager of Wesbanco Arena and of the Capitol Theatre since 2009, hasn’t lost his salesman’s touch when promoting the Veterans Banner Program.
“When we realized we’d be able to introduce the veterans banner program at this time of year, I immediately thought these banners would make great gifts, Plus, the holidays are a time for us to reflect on family,” the Wheeling mayor said. “All we need from the participants is the information about their military duty and a photo of the veterans. Once we have that, we’ll send it all to the folks we’re working with for the banners, and then they’ll able to go online and see how it looks.
“Participants will have the chance to choose an area where they would like us to hang the banners, and as long as there’s a pole, we’ll make that happen,” he said. “We’ve already had some people ask if their banners could be hung on Wheeling Island because that’s where their veterans lived. That’s what we want to make happen as often as possible.”
