About 20 years ago, Debbie and Dr. Dan Joseph were inspired to put together a unique event showcasing Wheeling and its home on the Ohio River. The Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta was born, and for most of the next two decades, it had become a Labor Day weekend staple.

Dozens of raceboat drivers and even more raceboat enthusiasts would flock to Wheeling’s Heritage Port to watch the vintage boats, restored to their glory, zip and zoom along the Ohio River. It attracted both local racers and others from across the country. It was a fun, out-of-the-ordinary family-focused event that everyone could enjoy.

Sadly, Heritage Port will no longer be the event’s home. The Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta’s board announced Monday that it would combine with the New Martinsville Vintage Raceboat Regatta for a Labor Day weekend event in New Martinsville starting this year. The Josephs said the decision needed to be made due to issues that affect many public events — struggles to widen the Wheeling regatta’s sponsor base, plus struggles to expand its roster of volunteers.

The couple is excited to see what the New Martinville Vintage Regatta organizers will do with the event, because they’ve witnessed what the Wetzel County contingent has been able to do with its own event in years past.

“It has been so impressive,” Dan Joseph said. “These guys, months and months before their next event, the group of them are out there cutting down trees, cutting branches back, filling holes where they took out tree stumps.

“We inherited Heritage Port, beautifully done,” Joseph said about the home of the Wheeling Regatta. “They’ve been building their facility year after year. That’s man hours and pure labor. You can’t put a price tag on that.”

Wheeling will miss its vintage regatta, and the Josephs must be applauded for their hard work on what has been a 20-year labor of love. Plenty of events are held at Heritage Port. The Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta was one of the few that showcased the Ohio River itself in splendid fashion.

The New Martinsville Vintage Regatta organizers hopefully understand the reputation the Wheeling Regatta brings with it and will do all they can to uphold that reputation now that the two events have combined. As long as they follow the blueprint the Josephs have set over the years, they should be just fine.