First Winner of ‘Conquer the Cones’ Contest Supporting Downtown Wheeling Restaurants Announced

Danielle Kutrovac has earned a $1,000 check for her efforts in supporting downtown restaurants in the first of six prize drawings for the Conquer the Cones campaign.

Conquer the Cones was created by Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration to support local restaurants affected by the ongoing Downtown Streetscape Project. To be entered into a $1,000 drawing, participants earn stamps through dining at 13 featured restaurants located in the heart of the construction zone.

Once six stamps have been accumulated on a card, contestants submit their completed ticket to any participating establishment to be entered into the grand prize drawing for that quarter.

Participating restaurants include Avenue Eats, DiCarlo's Pizza, Elle & Jacks, Mugshots, River City, Tito's, The Belgian Waffle Shop, the Vagabond Kitchen, Taqueria 304, The Bridge Tavern, Public Market, Table 304 and Panda Chinese Kitchen.

There were 186 cards entered into the first drawing, with the first quarter of the campaign motivating approximately 1,116 visits to local restaurants. Bob Heldreth, Vice President of Marketing for Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration, estimated that with around $12 spent per meal, the campaign has contributed about $30,000 to local businesses.

"That $30,000 is just for the first quarter," noted Heldreth at the prize drawing on Monday. "We're going to do this five more times, and we hope that every quarter that grows."

While Panhandle and Cleaning & Restoration devised the campaign and funded the first round, other local businesses have partnered to sponsor the $1,000 for each of the next five quarters. The additional sponsors include Rohrig Financial, Paree Insurance, Visit Wheeling WV, WesBanco and The Health Plan.

Rohrig Financial will now take the reins for funding and publicizing the campaign for the next quarter. The drawing for the second round of cards will take place on July 1.

Heldreth was thrilled to see other local businesses stepping up to fund Conquer the Cones along with the support Wheeling residents lent to the campaign. He was particularly impressed with one participant who had filled up four cards within the first quarter of the campaign.

"We had no idea how this was going to go and to get more than 1,100 visits to local restaurants is impressive," said Heldreth. "Raising awareness about the restaurants has influenced people to dine out more often. Even if people didn't participate in the contest, they still went to local restaurants and at least were thinking about them."

With warmer weather on the horizon and the paving of Main Street beginning in June, Heldreth predicts an even greater turnout for the next five quarters of the campaign.

"I think downtown will begin to open up more soon," added Heldreth. "We're going to run this until the end of the streetscape, which gives five more quarters over 15 months. This should be lucrative for the businesses to get people out and to their restaurants."