volume 7 issue 1 happy new year ! january 30, 2015weirtonmuseum.com/wamcc2015january.pdf · january...

P.O. Box 517, Weirton, WV 26062

Volume 7 Issue 1

In this issue:

Museum Officers:

January 30, 2015

President/Exec. Director

Dennis R. Jones

1st Vice President

Pamela Makricosta

Treasurer

Paul B. Zuros

Secretary

Kim Salter

Museum Location:

3149 Main Street

Weirton, WV 26062

Newsletter Composer: Dennis R. Jones

[email protected]

Museum Phone:

(304) 479-7266 (cell phone)

Museum Hours:

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HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Website:

www.weirtonmuseum.com

Email Address:

Above & Left: A heavy snowburst is captured on Jan. 20, as the big flakes fell from heaven in front of the muse-um. This was quite a change from the sunny Martin Luther King, Jr. day in Charleston the day before.

Dr. Anthony Major Receives Martin Luther King, Jr. Award

Photo by Dennis Jones

A Message from the President Happy New Year to all of you. I am happy to say that I once

again have time to play with pictures and perform one of my

favorite pastimes, the WAMCC Newsletter (this is the first

issue I posted since May, 2013). It is such a pleasure letting

everyone know about the wonderful activities and people of

our organization, a tradition started seven years ago when I

had the honor of posting Volume 1, Issue 1 to our website

followed by 55 more issues since then. The newsletter is full

of pictures for all to see what we do, and to help everyone

share and explore the past. We have another full year of

events and activities planned, and the list thus far is shown

here with many more in the planning stages. Please browse

through these pages and visit when you get a chance.

Sincerely,

Every Day 10-2

You may call to set up an appointment

for other possible times.

Also Find Us on FACEBOOK

WAMCC 2015 EVENTS Feb. 21 Dreams from Weirton Dunbar Honoring Dr. Anthony Major 1-3 pm at the museum Mar. 21 7th Annual Festival of Nations 11-4 pm at the Weirton Millsop Community Center Oct. 17 7th Annual Robert Haworth Art Exhibition + Art Auction 12-4 pm at the museum Several more events being planned. Check our website www.weirtonmuseum.com and LIKE us on facebook!

Volume 7, Issue 1 Weirton Area Museum and Cultural Center Newsletter

MLK, Jr. Living the Dream Award Accepted for Dr. Major

Above Left to Right: Dr. Juginder K. Luthra (President Weirton Heights Rotary), Paul B. Zuros (WAMCC Treasurer), Dennis Jones (WAMCC President), Jack Fowler (Weirton Heights Rotary), and Dave Whalen (President-Elect Weirton Heights Rotary). Luthra, Fowler, and Whalen helped organize the Mardi Gras Fundraiser earlier this year

A Lift from James White Construction

Photo by Ed Powell


On January 19, 2015, Martin

Luther King Day was celebrated

at the Asbury United Methodist

Church in Charleston. The pro-

gram was organized by the Mar-

tin Luther King Jr. State Holiday

Commission and five “MLK

Living the Dream” awards were

presented by Jacqueline Proctor,

Chair of the commission’s award

committee. Dr. Anthony J. Ma-

jor, who was nominated by Den-

nis Jones, received the award

posthumously for “Sharing of

Self.” Dr. Major was Principal

of Dunbar School in Weirton

from 1932 until 1949. Joyce

(Elmore) Gregory, who attended

Dunbar school and graduated

from Weir High School, received

the award for Dr. Major. Dr.

Major died in Dec. 1949, when

she was a 2nd Grade student at

Weirton Dunbar.

Above: Joyce (Elmore) Gregory (right) is shown receiving the “Sharing of Self” MLK, Jr. Award for Dr. Major from Jacqueline Proctor (left) of the Martin Luther King, Jr. State Holiday Commission. Also attending the ceremonies from Weirton were Dennis Jones and Paul J. Zuros, who is now Director at the Craik-Patton House museum in Charleston. The Award is now at the Weirton Area Museum, where it will be part of the “Dreams from Weirton Dunbar School” celebration on Feb. 21.

Above: After the church ceremonies, everyone walked a couple blocks over to our beautiful WV State Capitol, where several governmental officials spoke (R. Booth Goodwin, II, shown above). Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin was assisted by the children in the “Bell Ringing for Peace”

Above: On this beautiful day, Jan. 19, 2015, the Appalachian Children’s Cho-rus performed at the Capitol ceremo-nies and also earlier at the church cer-emonies. U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito also spoke at the Capitol cere-monies and attended the church cere-monies earlier, where she chatted briefly with Zuros and Jones.

Rediscovering Holliday’s Cove Written & Composed by Dennis Jones

Narrated by Pam Makricosta Videography by Rick Smith

Produced locally in the summer of 2013


John & Elma Pandelios “We will miss you.”

Above: Elma and John Pandelios are getting ready to enjoy a meal at Kathy’s Snack Shack, a famous setting in the movie Super 8. WAMCC was holding its monthly Board meeting here when the photo was taken.

Welcome Jane Kraina We welcome Jane Kraina who has been hired as a part-time Executive Assistant at WAMCC. Among her current duties are writing grants and organizing collections. In addition to her assigned duties, she also volunteers with muse-um activities, and is shown above preparing a display for the upcoming WV History Day at the state Capitol. Jane was previously Coordi-nator of the WWII Museum at the Brooke County Public Library and is also a Reference Assistant at the Mary H. Weir Public Library.

Above: The wonderful book written by John Pandelios, telling of his early life and the people in North Weirton. John has donated all pro-ceeds from the book to Weirton Area Museum.

Photo by DRJ: 11-11-2010

Photo by DRJ

Elma A. Pandelios John G. Pandelios 4-2-1921 to 12-20-2014 10-6-1916 to 12-3-2014 We will sadly miss our friends and fellow museum members Elma & John Pandelios. They both passed away in December due to health complica-tions which eventually caught up with their many years of productive life here in the City of Weirton. After retiring from their long careers at Weir High School and Weirton Steel Co. (respectively), they continued to be active in many organizations, including the Weirton Area Museum & Cul-tural Center.. John had served as one of the museum Board members since its organization in 2006. We often consulted with each of them for advice on a full spectrum of matters, and always looked forward to their participation in all the museum’s events. We hope to have a special room at the museum dedicated to this wonderful couple, who were forged out of the great melting pot called Weirton, West Virginia.

A Popular Discovery A very popular item from the museum gift shop has been the 70-minute DVD Movie Documentary titled “Rediscovering Holliday’s Cove.” It is an accurate history of the Cove Valley from Revolutionary times through the establishment of Weirton Steel Co. and the transformation into the official City of Weirton in 1947. There are lots of nice old photos, great music, and personal insights from Mike Nogay, David Javersak, Mike Ando-check Jr., John Pandelios, Goldie Baly, Herman Captio, C. Robert Cattrell, and Mary Zwierzchowski. Available


Recently Donated

Portrait of E. T. Weir by John C. Johansen, 1945

Pledge Allegiance Ad On New Year’s Ever, Jeff Grace donated the above re-verse-painted glass framed advertisement for “Bill’s Pure Food Market,” located on Brightway between Elmhurst and Glencairn Road. Phone 852 Hollidays Cove. Does anyone remember this?

Above: Portrait on Steel of John G. Redline Artist: William Zdinak Donated by: Daniel Kelly

E. T. Weir Painting Donated

On Christmas Eve, a large wood-

crated package arrived at the door of

Weirton Area Museum & Cultural

Center via UPS. It was an original

canvas painting of Ernest T. Weir,

donated by Gretchen Salisbury, wid-

ow of the late David M. Weir. The

portrait was painted in 1945 by John

C. Johansen (1876-1964). After

World War I Johansen was commis-

sioned by the U. S. Government to

capture “The Signing of The Treaty

of Versailles” which hangs today in

the Smithsonian Institution. He

became a renowned portraitist and

painted many famous people includ-

ing American Industrialist Henry

Clay Frick in 1943 and President

Herbert Hoover in 1941. His works

are displayed in many museums and

now will become part of the Ernest

T. Weir Collection at WAMCC.

Bill’s Pure Food Market

Portrait of John G. Redline by William Zdinak On December 27, Dan Kelly donated a large framed portrait of John G. Redline, President of Weirton Steel Co. The sketch is on a sheet of steel from the first High-Speed Nickel plated coil ever processed and taken from the Weirton Tin No. 2 Plater Line on June 4, 1980. The framed portrait of steel was originally given to Dan’s dad, Bernard Kelly, and includes a small photo of Mr. Zdinak’s famous painting “In His Image.” Mr. Redline received the only other copy of this artwork in existence.

History Books Recently Donated Above: On January 5, Joe Paterra donated a copy of “The Building of Pan Handle Division of The Penn-sylvania Railroad” by Cecil G. Howell. The 206 page book details the history of the railroad between Pitts-burgh through Holliday’s Cove and Weirton to Co-lumbus, Ohio. Right: On January 22, Rebecca Torrence of Red-ding California donated a 78-page book about Weir-ton’s history and culture. It is signed by the author, Inez Orler, a Weirton school teacher and principal.

Images of America - WEIRTON The new book, composed by Dennis R.

Jones, was made available to the public

by Arcadia Publishing Nov. 17, 2014.

Since that date, the museum has sold

over 550 copies raising approximately

$5500 thus far for the museum. Help-

ing with sales are Penn-Way Pharmacy,

Ted’s Plaza Pharmacy, Marsh Pipe Sup-

ply, Top of WV CVB, and Weirton Ar-

ea Chamber. Thank You ALL. Pho-

to at left shows Dennis with his sister

Shirley and brother-in-law Dave.


First Annual Silent Night Art Auction held Dec. 12


New Book Raises Over $5000 for the Museum

Many Artists Donate to Auction Weirton Area Museum thanks all the artists

who contributed their time and talents to the

Art Auction, which raised over $400 for the

museum. Artists participating included

Charles Osborne, Dave Barnhouse, Barb

Canterbury, Robert Watson, Jr. , Morris

Knabenshue, Matthew Voulgarakis, Paul

Spencer, Mike Swartzmiller, Anne Foreman,

Cecy Rose, Ruth Ann Bainbridge, Lamonta

Pearson, Mehandra Shah, Gerald Scvoc,

Dimitrios Akis, Eileen Gogol, Jane Kraina,

Pam Makricosta, and Dennis Jones. The

next auction is planned for Oct. 17.

$20.00 Above L-R: Dave & Shirley Whanger and Dennis Jones.

Above L-R: Dolly Luthra, Mike Swartzmiller, Barb Canterbury, and Dr. Jasbir Makar take part in the interactive painting session conducted by Mr. Swartzmiller at the Silent Night Art Auction.

Photo by Bob Kelley 12-12-14

Individual photos by Bob Kelley 12-12-14

Photo by Bob Kelley 12-12-14


People in the News

Planning for WAMCC’s 7th Annual Festival of Nations Underway Committee Members seated L-R: Kalpana Gupta, Mary Zwierzchowski, Lea Shirer, Depsina Melonas, and Dolly Luthra. Standing L-R: Andrea Anderson, Ed Giacchi-no, Bob Shirer, Dennis Jones, and Dr. J. K. Luthra (Festival Chairman). Committee members not pictured are Joe Stankiewicz, Victor Greco, and Pam Makricosta.

Weirton Area Museum’s

7th Annual Festival of Na-

tions will be held March 21,

2015, at the Weirton Mill-

sop Community Center

(11am-4pm). There will be

several ethnic performance

groups, dancing, singing,

ethnic foods & displays,

and lots of fun for the

whole family. Come and celebrate the rich ethnic

diversity we have in Weirton, a tradition started

here in 1934 and renewed by the Weirton Area

Museum & Cultural Center. Contact Festival

Chairman Dr. Juginder Luthra (304) 794-6336 if

you would like to participate or if you have any

questions concerning the festival. Check our mu-

seum website and facebook along with the local

newspapers for more details and updated info.

Mike Nogay Speaking at the Paris Presbyterian Church Coffee Room Jan. 20

Photo by DRJ: 1-20-2015

Above: Attorney/Author Mike

Nogay is often asked to come

and speak to groups about the

book he wrote in 2009, titled

Every Home a Fort, Every Man a

Warrior, and he often invites

Dennis to come along. This is

another book that raised thou-

sands of dollars for our muse-

um, thanks to our friend and

supporter, Mike Nogay. Photo by DRJ: 12-23-2014

Above: Board member Ed

Giacchino is shown repairing

plasterwork upstairs at the

museum, before the ceiling

and walls are painted. Hope-

fully we will be able to open

this floor sometime this year.

< Left: Phil Cutone stopped

by the museum Dec. 23 to

see the 1965 painting his fa-

ther created of Mr. Millsop.

Festival of Nations

Photo by Mike Kraina

volume 7 issue 1 happy new year ! january 30, 2015weirtonmuseum.com/wamcc2015january.pdf · january...

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