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WHEELING - The Thursday Music Club will hold its annual Traditional Membership Tea at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Char House on the Boulevard in Wheeling. Guests will enjoy tea sandwiches, fruit salad, cookies and assorted teas and coffee.
Anyone with an interest in music is invited to attend. To reserve a spot, call Sandy Smith at 304-242-1628 by Aug. 30. Smith can also answer questions about the club and its activities.
Throughout the year, the Thursday Music Club offers study groups that explore musicians and their works, and the club's chorus performs each spring. TMC chorus rehearsals will begin on Sept. 9 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Elm Grove United Methodist Church,125 Kruger St., in Wheeling. The group also hosts a spring recital for youth vocalists and pianists from the area.
This year's Membership Tea will feature performances by three talented young musicians who participated in the 2026 spring recital: Avery Nicole Meester, Kami Lee Martin and Sophia Grace Baily. Each student will receive the Carol E. Austin Performance Arts Award in memory of Helen Pierce Elbin.
Among the performers, Meester is the daughter of Lisa and Phil Lampasone and William Meester. She is a senior at St. Clairsville High School and has been studying voice with Miss Chelsey Kedding for the past 10 years.
Meester is a four-year member of the St. C. Singers and a two-year member of Sweet Harmony, a highly selective, audition-based vocal ensemble consisting of only 16 students. She has also performed on stage with St. Clairsville High School, most recently portraying Fruma Sarah in the school's production of "Fiddler on the Roof." In addition to her vocal accomplishments, Meester is a five-year member of the St. Clairsville High School Band and was inducted into the National Honor Society. After graduation, she plans to attend college in Michigan where she will continue to perform musical theater and study law.
Woodsfield's own Martin, 11, is making her mark in the local arts community with an impressive resume that spans music, dance and theater. A fifth-grade home-school student, Martin has studied piano and vocal music for several years. She has also spent the past three years training at the Oglebay Institute School of Dance, and she is a member of the OI Youth Ballet Company. Her ballet performances have included "The Little Mermaid," "The Nutcracker" and "Hansel and Gretel." On stage, Martin appeared in productions at Towngate Theatre and Brooke Hills Playhouse, where she recently took on the title role in "Matilda." She is also a member of the Ohio Valley Cloak and Dagger Company and has portrayed Alice in "Alice in Wonderland" in numerous performances. Last year, she toured with the Oglebay Institute's children's production of "The Three Wishes." Martin lives with her parents, Ron and Sheila Martin, and her older sister, Karissa.
Baily lives in Weirton and attends Weirton Madonna Jr. High School. She has been playing piano under the guidance of Janice Torrance for three years now. Her other hobbies include dancing, video games, drawing and watching cartoons.