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Airing Out Our Gripes

Once a year, I collect readers’ gripes about a host of issues and formulate them into a column. That way we can share our collective complaints and feel somewhat validated. I’ve heard from a host of readers about the condition of roads in West Virginia, and I can commiserate. There is an online method at the state’s highways division for making road issue complaints known to those who can help. How excited one reader was to receive a message saying the potholes on his road had been filled that day. However, a ride down his road proved otherwise. Perhaps road crews ran out ...

Did you see all the press coverage of the jewelry and sentimental meanings behind the strings of pearls, pins and jewels worn to Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral last week? I did and enjoyed it. It even inspired me to take out a few baubles and brooches to pin on my lapel. My favorite jewelry moment during the coverage was the mention of the first brooch worn by Princess Charlotte to her great-grandmother’s funeral last Monday. It seems that this small diamond horseshoe pin placed on the youngster’s black coat was a gift from the late monarch and previously belonged to Queen ...

Something Gained, Something Lost

There was a time not so long ago that residents of the Ohio Valley did not feel the need to lock their doors. In fact, many homeowners installed screens on their windows and screen doors at the front and back of their homes. This was to allow the free flow of air in the pre- and post-World War II built homes that did not include the luxury of whole house air conditioning. Some of the beautiful Victorian style homes had oversized windows and glass porch doors for the same reason. The hot, humid summers of this region prompted residents to use any means possible to stay cool without ...

Queen Elizabeth II Souvenirs Treasured

If you’re like me, you are following the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II daily. I’m amazed at the pomp and circumstance and adherence to tradition, protocol and duty that the people of the United Kingdom embrace and celebrate. The UK does ceremonies so well. Of course, I’ve ...

Major Was The Best Dog

It’s been just a few short weeks, but I still look out the front door expecting to see him lumbering this way. Major lived a good stone’s throw from our house. He was a regular visitor to our home, nearly every day in his last years. He had his own food and water dishes in our home, ...

Painted Porcelain Offers an Interesting Relic From the Past

I received an interesting phone call from a former resident of Wheeling, George Carenbauer, not long ago. Carenbauer now resides in the Washington, D.C., area but enjoys antiques. He and his sister, Ellen Carenbauer Hazera, an artist living in Bordeaux, France, are considering the idea of an art exhibition to be held in Wheeling that would highlight a very special painting done by their mother, Elsa Eick Carenbauer in 1903. He shared a photo of his mother’s artwork and the story behind it. “Our grandmother, Elsa Eick Carenbauer, did a remarkable painting on china in 1903 when ...