Zebick Retiring After 36 Years Running ‘Safety Town’ Program at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital
WHEELING — It was an emotional day at the Howard Long Wellness Center, as parents watched their kids complete the Safety Town program, and as staff watched Beth Zebick watch her last batch of students complete the program.
Zebick, who has been with the WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital system for 46½ years, is retiring at the end of July, currently serving as Community Education and Outreach coordinator. Zebick has run Safety Town for 36 years. At Friday morning’s graduation, members of the Wheeling Police Department presented her with a plaque, while others came to wish her the best and give her a warm sendoff.
After so many years on the job, Zebick’s retirement seemed bittersweet, humbled by the outpouring of support, but saying that she would try to have fun with the next stage of her life.
“It’s humbling, truly humbling. I did not expect all this,” Zebick said. “Safety Town’s been a part of my life for 36 years, and I just couldn’t believe all the people that came. It brought tears to my eyes.”
Safety Town, Zebick said, migrated to the Ohio Valley from Cincinnati and Cleveland, started by Dorothy Chlad, who started more than 40 such programs. The Wheeling police and fire departments stepped in and took over operations, holding the two-week course each summer to educate children on a number of safety topics, ranging from crossing the street safely, seat belts, poisons, strangers, and the importance of not hiding from firefighters in a crisis.
“On TV, you see all these things about teenagers, police, and fire, but today, it just proves how good our teenagers, police and fire(fighters) are in this area,” she added. “They come back year after year to help our young’ns.”
Doug Harrison, CEO of Wheeling Hospital, said that the hospital considered searching for someone to step up and fill Zebick’s place running Safety Town, but that she was truly irreplaceable, which made the interview process difficult. The future of Safety Town, as of Friday, is not certain.
“This lady here has been an icon to Wheeling Hospital, for years and years,” Harrison said. “What she has meant to this hospital can’t be replaced. She is an absolute legend. We’d begun interviewing for her replacement, and as I go through the interviews, we quickly realized that you just can’t do it.”
Rusty Lashey, a maintenance worker who built much of Safety Town, said that the program was always a big project. The loss of Zebick, he said, would be a blow to future operations.
“We all worked together to try to make this a successful program all these years,” Lashey said. “She’s done a miraculous job, and to be losing her, it’s tough. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger said the Safety Town program, and Zebick especially, are huge boons to the community.
“Ms. Beth is an icon, and she’s really, truly a community hero. So many generations of kids coming through, we’re just honored to be a part of it,” he said. “The lessons that are provided for these kids last a lifetime, the relationships even longer.”
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