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Coloring Book Depicts Wheeling, Past And Present

Get out your crayons and take a stroll down memory lane this holiday season.

Author Mike Duve has produced a 140-page Wheeling Souvenir Coloring Book that depicts people, places and businesses — past and present — in Wheeling, West Virginia.

The 8 and 1/2 by 11-inch book offers hours of enjoyment recalling people and places in the Friendly City that range from beauty shops to department stores, restaurants to billiard rooms.

Duve, was born in Barnesville and is a graduate of Barnesville High School and Belmont JVS in 1974. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Last year, Duve released a T-shirt commemorating many of Wheeling’s past businesses. It was met with success and so he decided to tap into the memory book idea. He calls himself a “visitor” to Wheeling ever since he was a boy, but needed some help in naming some of the important people and places to include in the book. Duve said he knew of the larger stores such as Stone and Thomas, Hornes, L.S. Good & Co. and Murphy’s 5 & 10, but wanted to include others.

“I received hundreds of suggestions for more businesses that people would like to have seen added to the shirt. There wasn’t room on any shirt for all those memories. So I created the book.”

At 62, Duve said he is not an expert in computer work, but was guided by online publishing tutorials to create the coloring book. “I had a lot of pictures but just couldn’t do the drawings to make the pages,” Duve explained.

So, he sent photographs to a group of designers in the Phillippines who created line drawings from the photographs that, in turn, became coloring book pages. The entire process took about a year to complete.

He also took pictures of the bank building in Barnesville after noticing the beautiful gargoyles located atop the building. Dove had those photos made into drawings which spurred him to include line drawings of some of Wheeling’s intricately designed buildings.

“There are so many beautiful buildings in Wheeling, so I’m thinking of maybe doing something with those in the future,” Dove said.

The Wheeling Souvenir Coloring Book is available online at Amazon and eBay. Or order directly by calling Duve at 740-213-3789.

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