Formal Dances and Balls

Every Woodsdale girl's dream was to be invited to a formal dance of one kind or another. I remember getting so excited by being invited to the Linsly Ball that I jumped up and down after getting off the phone and my head was pierced by a diamond shaped dangler on the chandelier in the hall where the phone was. With blood streaming down my face (unnoticed) I ran upstairs to tell my sisters who were so shocked at my bloody face that they were incoherent.

After years of borrowing formal gowns and wearing hand-me-downs, I got my first brand new formal and was anxious to show it off....white with blue embroidered flowers around the skirt and of course, spagetti straps which meant I had to wear a merry widow...(like Scarlett O'Hara's lace up scene). Anyway, a guy from the neighborhood was visiting so I asked him if he wanted to see the dress I was going to wear to the dance and when he said yes, I went upstairs and put it on. Bouncing down the stairs, barefoot and tossled, I pranced into the living room expecting sighs of awe. Instead I got "You have shoulders like Charles Atlas!!! (the famous body builder)". I was so hurt I ran back upstairs humiliated.

Now, I'm not going to tell you who the guy was, but all these years later he is sincerely repentant. I blamed the big shoulders on being on the swim team at Oglebay and immediately took up diving instead. (Thank you Mr. Pugh). Looking back at it all now, it seems hilarious, but with teen angst and all it was not.

I can remember too, when much younger, sleeping out on the side porch as it was too hot in the house. Unseen from the front door, my sisters and I were witness to my oldest sister coming home from a formal dance and kissing her date goodnight to the sound of giggles and laughter! She was not a happy camper that we spoiled her big moment.

Most dances in those days were at the Pine Room and we were so lucky to have such a gorgeous setting for our activities. Whether it was a Triadelphia dance or Linsly, it was always fun. I'll bet you have some great memories to share of formal dances too!

What Wilbur the mailman, and my mother taught me about Investing

In the good old days back in Woodsdale, the mail was delivered in a much better fashion. Wilbur the mailman always came up on the porch and had a few nice words to say. He loved to kid my sisters about letters from their boyfriends. Every so often Wilbur would put a dividend check in the mail box from one of the companies my mother had stock in. Often my mother would open the letter with a check from Wheeling Steel, or Continental Can Company and say. That's nice, they sent three hundred dollars. As a kid it seemed so nice just to have someone send you three hundred dollars once in awhile. As I got older I came to understand there were two kinds of money. One kind which is the worst kind you have to go out and earn. You don't go out, you don't get it. The best money in the world is the kind that comes up on your porch all by itself and jumps in your mailbox. No matter what you do that money comes up and jumps in your mail box. Long ago the rich understood that money which came home by itself was the kind to have. As I grew older I cultivated more and more of the good type of money. Since I have retired, I have come to depend on the good type of money that comes home by itself. Often I think back to Wilbur and my mother showing me the difference between the two kinds of money.

Woodsdale School

Sorry Judy, but the side facing Bethany Pike WAS the front. As you can see from this photo taken during the construction, the front was much more elegant. Since we all used the side entrance, we considered THAT the front (on Maple)

Memories of a Woodsdale Kid

by Judy Meier Grace

Connecting with my fellow classmates and reading their blogs have churned up so many memories! When I tell my friends that I grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, they sometimes snicker. I just tell them that it was the best place in the world to be a kid. There's no way they can understand. How I wish Woodsdale School were still standing! Somewhere in my house is a brick my mother gave me when they tore the school down.

I remember Woodsdale's HUGE halls and those big wooden pillars. The front door was on Maple and the side door was on Bethany Pike, which was the biggest and busiest street I had ever seen (next to the National Road). No one really needed to be late to class, because there was a first bell and a second bell. The rope to ring it was outside Mrs. Wolfe's room. I can still see Mr. Helms ringing it.

I lived half a block from the school, so I went home to eat lunch. Occasionally I got to eat lunch at school--I loved those days! I always bought a token; tickets were for people who were lucky enough to have one of Mrs. Henry's sandwiches every day.

*side note: During lunch, my mother and I used to watch "Search for Tomorrow" and "Guiding Light." Each soap was 15 minutes long and LIVE!

One of my favorite times during the school year was Christmas. We would gather on those wide steps and sing carols. There was a tree in the middle of the downstairs hall. Talk about being politically incorrect in public school! And the Christmas pageants--rehearsals on the stage, that big blue velvet curtain, and Mrs. Young playing the piano.

We had those periodic visits from Miss Brand (music), Mrs. Waddell (handwriting), and Mrs. Johnston (art). Poor Miss Brand--we never gave her a break, especially when she pulled out her pitch pipe. Miss Waddell made us do those horrible push pulls and ovals--never could get those right. I think we enjoyed the art teacher's visit the most.

And...Bible School every Wednesday morning. I envied the kids whose parents said they didn't have to go. I really tried to talk my parents out of going--I kept saying, "I'm not even a Presbyterian!" Mrs. Keester got after us if we had our eyes open during the prayers. I always wanted to ask her how she knew they were open, but I was afraid I'd get in trouble.

After school and on week-ends we'd get on our Schwinns and ride to McAlister's on Heiskell Avenue. Candy bars were a nickel. If only I had kept my Archie comic books!

Across "the Pike" was Woods' Run Park. There were 2 or 3 little bridges that crossed the creek. We used to go wading and look for crawdaddies in the rusty water.

Going to play in the Etzes' woods was absolute heaven--we made forts, climbed to "the rock" and spent the whole day in our own little world.

Some noteworthy events ocurred while my generation was at Woodsdale: Queen Elizabeth's coronation, the beginning of the construction of I-70, the invention of television, and ELVIS!

Woodsdale Park turf wars

As a child growing up in Hamilton Ave in the 1970's and 1980's the Woodsdale Park on Bethany Pike across from Woodsdale School was the place to play. Of course there were problems with this, as a child no one knew just who owned the park. The Hamilton/ Hawthorne side thought it was theirs (at that time only one person lived on Park Road by the park) and the Poplar / Maple / Walnut Ave kids thought it was theirs. This of course lead to minor fights and shouting matches as a child no one ever thought of sharing the place! I recall other kids playing football and baseball while me and my friends played in the orange mine run off water and under the bridge on Homestead. As I grew older I would walk the dog there and hang out with friends talking about junior high and highschool scandals and who was dating who and who was doing "bad things" on the pig path late at night. In the late 1990's I came back to find the final and last footbridge long gone and the orange water long gone. I walked my parents dog there only to be yelled at by a woman who screamed " you don't live here you have to leave this park now" That did not sit well and of course I asked the horrid woman with her dog " and just where do you live? and who gives you the right to assign who is and is not allowed in the park? " her reply was simple , she said " I live on Poplar ave and we are the one's permitted to use the park not outsiders" I explained to the woman that my parents lived on Hamilton Ave, she did not find this amusing and stated "those streets don't matter, your snobs over their and are not considered Woodsdale" I glard at her and she left. Not part of Woodsdale? was not the Woods farmhouse in the middle of the Hamilton Ave area? A few weeks later I spotted her in her traffic next to me in her Yellow Chrysler Lebaron convertible and gave her the "snobby Hamilton ave glare that she expected " of course this never swayed me in my pride of
Woodsdale or the honor of being able to use such a splended park! I returned to Woodsdale 2 1/2 years ago purchasing the Etz Mansion. I love this neighborhood !

Short stories

I am having a lot of trouble getting people to write for this blog site, but they keep telling me hilarious stories that I just must share so here goes:

From Peggy Thonen: She says Andy Bates and George Doughty were eating dog biscuits while waiting in line for the cafeteria at Woodsdale. Caroline Coleman said that out of curiousity she went home and tried a few Milkbones, but was not thrilled with the taste.

From Caroline Coleman: Caroline was a new teacher at Woodsdale and was asked by Miss Ball to help her clear out her desk and classroom. Caroline found a bottle of cough syrup and asked Miss Ball about it. She explained that the "cough syrup" often contained harder stuff than the original contents and that was the only way she could put up with some of her students!

If you have a story to contribute PLEASE, PLEASE DO SO! Contact me at katequinn5@verizon.net and I will make you a contributor. The more variety that we can get the better!

A Brief History of Woodsdale

Archibald Woods, a Revolutionary War hero, established his farm on land given to him as a reward for his involvement in the War. He first built a farmhouse on what is now Homestead Avenue. The homestead was torn down when Peterson Rehab Hospital was built. The streets directly behind what used to be the homestead are named for his family members...Hamilton, Archibald, etc.

His daughter-in-law, Ruth often took the many children of the family to what is now known as Wood's Run Park along Bethany Pike. She was so determined to preserve this area for the children that she had a lawyer draw up a contract stating that the people of the area (specifically Park Road) were responsible for the upkeep of the park and could never erect any buildings there. Two small, arched walking bridges were built over the creek. The creek was polluted by mine runoff of iron in the 1950's and sported a bright orange color for many years.

Grandson Charles Woods owned a house on the corner of Upper Poplar and Heiskell Avenue. He kept a pony and trap in the "barn" (now the garage) and used to give children of the area rides as far as Oglebay Park.

The land along what is now Edgewood Street was owned by a Mr.Hutchinson who was the contractor for Bethany Pike. He bottled the water from his springs and sold it from a backpack that he carried.

Beginning in the 1890's the land was subdivided. The second oldest house built (after the Wood's homestead) was the Etz House on Edgewood Street. This beautiful mansion with a Queen Anne turret and a broad wraparound front porch is now obscured by modern apartments.

The streets of Woodsdale have had many name changes over the years. The neighborhood is on the list of Historic Areas because of the beauty of the many Victorian homes in the area.