The Final Curtain Call for Wheeling Park High School’s Ben Podolski
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WHEELING - Colleagues and students from every era of Wheeling Park High School Strings Teacher Ben Podalski's musical career gathered at the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center for the final time the man known as "Mr. P" would take the stage.
The Ben Podolski Alumni and Friends Concert lived up to its name, with more than 80 alumni of Podolski's program dusting off their instruments on Sunday to play a selection of his favorite pieces. More former students, colleagues, friends and family members filled out the audience at the PAC as well.
Seeing so many former students and friends take the stage was "heartwarming" for Podolski, who said the event took him on "a trip down memory lane."
The show began with the quartet piece "Into the New” by Mark Revell, performed by Podolski, two of his former colleagues and Laura Grube, who will take Podolski's place as the new WPHS Strings teacher.
Each quartet member had played with Podolski at a different stage of his career. The quartet's cellist, Larry Sharpe, was Podolski's roommate at Youngstown State University. Podolski began his music career in Wheeling playing alongside the quartet's violinist, former Wheeling Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Leo Ficks. Grube, who rounded out the group on the viola, was a student teacher under Podolski.
The show's concertmaster, Dena Miller, was another of Podolski's colleagues from early in his career. He met Miller while playing in the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra.
The concert conductor was another longtime friend of Podolski, former Wheeling Park band teacher Patrick Garrett.
Garrett, Garrett's wife Leslie Garrett, and Podolski were instrumental in building and expanding the WPHS music program, including creating the Festival of Sound and bringing the Performing Arts Center to WPHS. The three were given the nickname "BLP," with Podolski noting on Sunday that he was the last one standing in the group.
"The encouraging thing is that Wheeling Park's Band teacher Jason Birch was a student of ours, Wheeling Park's choir teacher Christie Greenwood student taught with me and Laura, my protege, also student taught with me," said Podolski. "They can carry on the 'BLP' legacy, but we'll have to create a new nickname for them. Maybe they'll be the 'CLJ.'"
One former colleague who could not take the stage with Podolski due to his arthritis was former Wheeling Middle School Strings teacher Rudy Zinka. Podolski first worked with Zinka when he began teaching at WPHS in 1987, with Zinka retiring from teaching two years after Podolski started.
Even though he could not play, Zinka enjoyed the show, noting it was "fantastic" to see alumni join the educator on stage. Zinka added that though he worked alongside Podolski briefly, he saw something special in the educator.
"When he was getting started I saw his potential," described Zinka. "The program began with about 19 students, and today it's just tremendous. Seeing all those former students on stage with him shows his impact."
After Podolski took the stage for the first piece, he enjoyed the rest of the concert from the audience. Though he had been "torn" over whether to play for the rest of the show, he explained he wanted to sit back and enjoy the music.
"I was originally going to play, but then I decided I just wanted to watch the kids," said Podolski. "I saw kids who sat together in high school sitting together today at the concert, so it was nice to see that they still do that. I think this brought back memories for them as well."
The piece that brought back the most memories for Podolski was "Lord of the Dance" by Ronan Hardiman. He recalled being accepted to play the piece with Garrett at the West Virginia All-State Concert in the early 2000s.
"We played the piece, and it was not just an orchestra with us, but a band and a choir, too," said Podolski. "We presented a concert like the Festival of Sound before the Festival of Sound. We were asked to play the song again at Arts Alive that year too, so that song brought back memories for me."
Podolski added that the event brought him "back to where he started" as a WPHS teacher with only six students.
"It was nice when I saw the pictures of me that were in the lobby, I was able to remember what the program was like in the beginning and how it is now," explained Podolski. "We did a lot, and we accomplished a lot. I'm happy to leave a legacy."
As Podolski wraps up his teaching career, he will also wrap up his time in Wheeling. In August, he will move to Youngstown to begin his retirement.
"There are some loose ends here and there before I move, and I'm playing in some receptions and student weddings," said Podolski. "After that, I'm just going to take a break and not make any decisions. I'll maybe travel, get moved into the new house and get to know my neighbors.
"After all that, we'll see what happens. It's a new chapter for me."