Community

OVHC donation, Eggsibition topics for club

STEUBENVILLE -- The OFWC Woman's Club of Steubenville returned from its winter hiatus to demonstrate generosity to a local charity while also learning about the second year for an artistic attraction hoped to bring visitors to the downtown.

Iris Craig, president, presided at the club's March 5 luncheon meeting held at the YWCA of Steubenville, a gathering that included the presentation of a $5,000 check to the Ohio Valley Health Center.

Trudy Wilson, the center's executive director, expressed gratitude for the club's donation and noted the center's key fundraiser is approaching with the gala set for April 22 at St. Florian Hall, beginning with champagne and hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m.

Open to the public, the gala will have a "Great Gatsby" theme with 1920s attire optional. Tickets are $50. The evening includes recognition of honorees, a Chinese auction and live auction, a state-of-the-center report and other announcements.

"That's our largest fundraiser of the year, and we generally raise about between one-fourth to one-third of our budget during that event, so please feel free to come and invite your friends and families and colleagues. We have a great time," she said.

Wilson told the club members that the center has been selected as one of 10 semi-finalists for "a brand new state-of-the-art lab that will not only be installed with new equipment" but also would include, for instance, the supplies needed to run it for a year in addition to hands-on training to operate it. It is through Heart to Heart International.

"We're excited about that," Wilson said. "We also have been moving along with some additional providers over the last year, so we're able to see more patients. Our statistics are going up so that means our funding is more necessary than ever before, so again, thank you for this donation," Wilson said.

Therese Nelson, guest speaker, said club members may know her as the artist and designer of the nutcrackers for the Steubenville Nutcracker Village, but she also serves as the manager of family businesses, including Steubenville Popcorn Co., Drosselmeyer Nutcracker Shop and the soon-to-open Leonardo's Coffee Shop, all business presences on North Fourth Street.

Nelson also is involved in the upcoming Eggsibition, a display at downtown businesses of 3-foot eggs made of fiberglass and decorated by local artists. This will be the second year for the display originated by the Nelson family.

"We started the nutcracker project, and people ask what do eggs have to do with that? I tell them nutcrackers hatch from eggs," Nelson jokingly told the club members.

"The eggs are actually an idea we had before the nutcrackers project. It's a very traditional Ukranian style of celebrating Easter," she explained. "Usually we talk about Easter eggs as signifying rebirth, new life that comes at springtime and Easter and going further back to tradition, the Catholic church disapproved of eating meat during Lent and that included eggs," Nelson continued. "For very rural communities that had their own farms, to save their eggs they would often hard boil them, so by the time Easter came, they could eat them, or they would drain them and decorate the eggs to create a very festive atmosphere using egg shells."

Nelson noted that in Ukraine, there is a giant egg exhibition featuring a display of 3-foot creations decorated by local artists and there is a display as well in New York of pysanky, Ukranian decorated eggs.

"Last year was pretty small, and we surprised the city with them on Easter weekend," Nelson said, "but this year we will be putting them out the week before Easter and once again we have different artists doing every single egg and each will be displayed in a different downtown business, so unlike the nutcracker village, which is a very festive atmosphere in one place, we really want to encourage visitors and egg hunters to go around and explore all the businesses in our downtown and get to know the community at a more personal level," she added.

Last year, there were 17 eggs; this year, 25.

Local artists donated their time and supplies to paint and decorate the eggs, according to Nelson, noting the eggs are anticipated to be on display the week of March 26 and remain available for viewing through the end of April.

The display is a kind of Easter egg hunt in that visitors can obtain maps to seek them out and get a stamp at each location. A new twist this year is that viewers are invited to place a dollar vote for their favorite egg, which can be done at Drosselmeyer Nutcracker Shop, 155 N. Fourth St. The winner will receive half the pot; the other half goes toward revitalization efforts, according to Nelson.

"It's a lot smaller than the nutcracker project, but we hope that it will grow and expand," Nelson said.

There are three sponsorship opportunities with $200, full sponsorship by a business; a 50-50 split between a business and another sponsor such as an individual; or a full sponsorship for a host business. She used an as example that Eastern Gateway Community College, which doesn't have a downtown presence, could sponsor an egg for the Grand Theater.

The club's April 2 noon luncheon meeting will be held at the YWCA. Margaret Brown will present a program on "Vintage Clothes."