Wheeling Park Planning Golden Celebration For 50th Homecoming
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WHEELING -- Wheeling Park High School administrators have plans to make the school’s 50th homecoming this year a golden one.
Principal Meredith Dailer announced plans for the celebration before the Ohio County Board of Education this week.
Homecoming weekend events are set to take place Thursday, Oct. 15, through Saturday, Oct. 17.
The annual homecoming parade is set to take place Thursday evening in downtown Wheeling and end at Heritage Port. Staging will begin at 5 p.m., with the parade stepping off at 6 p.m. A pep rally at Heritage Port is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
“We thought it was the perfect time to bring people back and celebrate the 50th anniversary,” Dailer said. “So on Thursday, we are inviting back all our alumni, our past teachers and staff to walk in the parade with us.”
There also will be an alumni social from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday at WesBanco Arena on the new patio. Tickets cost $5 in advance or $8 at the door. There will be light refreshments, a cash bar and music.
Friday’s events kick off with an alumni tailgate party in the parking lot at the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack prior to the homecoming football game. The pregame celebration will take place from 5 to 7 p.m.
Tickets are necessary for the event and cost $30. Those attending will receive a WPHS 50th anniversary T-shirt, ornament and a ticket to the game against Jefferson County High School.
Dailer said the school is working to achieve free admission to the game for everyone in the community.
The WPHS Alumni Band is expected to play at the homecoming game, and there are plans to have fireworks after the contest, she added.
On Saturday, there will be tours of the school from 9 to 11 a.m. The school facility has undergone major construction and updates in recent years.
“It is a very different space,” Dailer said. “It is a very different space if you were there in the 1980s. There have been three or four additions since that time. Even if you were there as late as 2010, it is a very different building.”
Those wishing to purchase tickets for the alumni social or tailgate celebrations may obtain them through the Wheeling Park High School website at www.boe.ohio.k12.wv.us/o/wphs. Additional information about the 50th-year celebration at WPHS also will be found there.