Wellsburg holiday traditions go on

WELLSBURG -- With some changes, two Wellsburg traditions will mark the arrival of 2021 with lights and fireworks.

Joe Mullenbach, co-chairman, with Sean Jackson of the Wellsburg Kiwanis Club's luminaria project, said because of the heavy snow that was forecast for Christmas Eve, the decision was made not to set about 1,000 bagged candles out along state Route 2 and other areas of the city on that day.

Instead, the luminaria will be lit on New Year's Eve, said Mullenbach, who added it's not the first time inclement weather has led to the lighting being moved from Christmas Eve.

For more than 30 years the Wellsburg Kiwanis Club has been behind the lights, which also are placed along the Town Square and, provided there are enough, outside local churches and schools.

The club has sold luminaria to many residents, churches and groups as well as to the city of Follansbee, which also has delayed lighting of them along Route 2 until Thursday evening.

Mullenbach said any money left after expenses for the luminaria goes to youth programs supported by the club.

Normally members of the Brooke High School Key Club, a community service group that operates through the Wellsburg Kiwanis Club, assist the Kiwanians in setting out the bags in the morning.

Each containing a candle and sand to stabilize it, the bags normally are assembled by workers at the Brooke County Opportunity Center.

But the involvement of both groups has been blocked this year by the pandemic.

Mullenbach said the luminaria were assembled instead by Cody Rice and Kayla Beatty, who work with him at his funeral home, and a few former Key Club members, now adults, have volunteered to assist in setting them out.

He noted members of the Franklin Community Volunteer Fire Department are again aiding with the effort.

The firefighters became involved in 2014 in honor of the late Ron Ostrosky, a longtime member and officer of the fire department who had chaired the Kiwanis Club's luminaria project.

Mullenbach said others are welcome to aid the club in lighting the candles at about 5 p.m.

"If anybody wants to come out and light them, we'd appreciate that," he said.

Mullenbach expressed appreciation to about 150 individuals and groups who purchased the luminaria this year and to Wilkin Flower Shop, the Follansbee Flower Shop and Fonce's for selling them for the club.

Mayor Sue Simonetti said concerns about spread of COVID-19 have led to the cancellation of a small New Year's Eve celebration on the Town Square but not of the fireworks display that normally caps it at midnight.

The pyrotechnics are strategically launched each year so they can be seen from many homes in the city, and that will be no different, said Simonetti.

She said she's looking forward to the return next year of the Town Square celebration that included the dropping of a 5-foot wide lighted ball from the flagpole outside City Hall.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)