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Weirton Steel 25-Year Club’s annual picnic offered an afternoon of food and fellowship

WEIRTON -- The Weirton Steel 25-Year Club's annual picnic offered an afternoon of food and fellowship Saturday at the Serbian Picnic Grounds, allowing former employees for the company to catch up and bond once more over their shared background.

Brenda Ice, former vice president and current treasurer of the 25-Year Club, said this is the picnic's 77th year. The 25-Year Club itself was founded in 1946 exclusively for employees of Weirton Steel Corp. who had 25 years or more of employment. However, Ice said, the picnic has been opened to former and current employees of what is now the Cleveland-Cliffs mill to attend.

As old of a tradition as the club itself, the annual picnic has only missed three years, said Ice, who is a former quality operator for Weirton Steel, beginning on the slitting line and moving her way up to the galvanized line during her 30 years of employment. One miss for the picnic occurred near the end of World War II and the other two resulted from the coronavirus pandemic.

Ed Powell, former president of the club, said the club used to have as many as 7,500 members, and people would travel from across the country to attend the yearly picnic.

Officially beginning the event was an opening prayer given by Ice, followed by a brief business announcement. In the announcement, next year's 25-Year Club officers were announced, including Ron Baker as president, Alice Bryan as vice president, Ice as treasurer and Carolyn Norsia as secretary.

After that, attendees were welcome to fill their plates with burgers, hotdogs and sausages provided by Walter Ruszkowski -- and associates Joey Bertha and Crys Hawkins -- of Giometti Catering.

Unfortunately, Ice said, membership has been dwindling as older generations pass away, which is part of the reasoning for extending participation in the picnic to employees outside the club. The picnic's average attendance in recent years has floated between 400 and 450 people, Ice said.

Regardless of the exact number, the picnic's pavilion was buzzing with chatter among attendees, each with their own stories to tell.

Don Kern, employed from 1959 to 1993, supervised the strip steel department after entering the company as a clerk and joining a management training program. Kern now lives in Winter Haven, Fla., but he travels back to the Tri-State Area at least once a year to visit family, which includes his great-grandson for whom a baby shower was scheduled for the same day as the picnic this year.

Now a drummer in a jam band, Kern said he enjoys coming back to see the people he worked with.

Billy Davis, who retired in 1987, brought with him 96-year-old Ralph Wyatt, who worked as a machinist for Weirton Steel from 1942 to 1982. Davis said Wyatt is the oldest person in the 25-Year Club.

Both men are from Weirton, and Davis said they have been friends for many years.

Wyatt is a Navy veteran, who served from 1945 to 1946 and was stationed in China. He said of the club picnic, "I hope it goes on forever."

Bob Faulkner worked for Weirton Steel as an operator at the tin mill for exactly 42 years on the dot, having started and ended on a July 31 date. A fan of hunting and fishing, Faulkner is nicknamed "Grizz" for his outdoorsy tendencies.

Faulkner said the picnics are always a good time and well organized. He said the only things missing are some of the "old timers" who have passed away, including his father.

Speaking of the fraternity among employees, Faulkner said, "We were always a band of steelworker brothers no matter what department you worked in. ... Everybody had (each other's) backs."

Trevor Galownia, who worked at Weirton Steel for 36 years, said the picnics used to be so packed that attendees could hardly stand up. However, he noted, "Every year, there are a few less."

Although not a club member, Paul J. Zuros attended the event to promote his book "Historic Tales of the Upper Ohio Valley," which he said includes stories of Weirton Steel. He brought with him a tank round, the type that Weirton Steel would have produced, and a production award flag marked with an E for excellence, the type that was given to Weirton Steel in 1944 for its production efforts for the war.

Zuros said of his book, "It's a good way for people to remember the past so they don't lose that legacy."

Rich Young, another past president of the club, said the picnic is an opportunity to reunite with old friends and talk about the good, the bad and the dangerous of Weirton Steel.

"We always called it working in hell," said Young, recalling how he once had to be carted out of the coke plant due to smoke inhalation. He said individuals' "insane work ethic" is what drove them to persevere and get the job done.

Arnett Baker, who said he has not missed a picnic since he hit 25 years of employment, used to work at the mill's railroad. He said railroad work was a dangerous occupation, but it was "just a routine" after a while

Ice said the picnic used to be funded by Weirton Steel, but since the company filed for bankruptcy, the club has depended on private donations, as well as its own efforts to solicit funds.

Apart from the annual picnic, Ice said, the 25-Year Club convenes to do volunteer work around the community. Events they give their time to include ringing bells for the Salvation Army, preparing Christmas lights for hanging around Weirton and giving out candy at Christmas and Independence Day parades.

Ice was stationed at a table near the pavilion's entrance, where she received donations and sold red 25-Year Club shirts alongside Cleveland-Cliffs.

Ron Baker, current elected president of the 25-Year Club and brother of Arnett Baker, said that after Weirton Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2003, the company and its buildings changed hands a few times, resulting in what is now the Cleveland-Cliffs tin mill.

To that, Ron Baker said, "It can change hands (and) tear buildings down, but the Weirton Steel 25-Year Club will be here as long as I have anything to do about it."

Ron Baker said his officers in the club have been crucial in pulling off the picnic, which he said many people look forward to each year. In addition to thanking his officers and others who helped put on the picnic, Ron Baker said he could not fully express his gratitude for the picnic's primary sponsors: First Choice America Community Federal Credit Union, Hancock County Savings Bank and Tudor's Biscuit World.

"People will donate," Ron Baker said. "They want to see this thing going."

He said the men gathered at the event have sacrificed a lot working at the mill, and they look forward to the picnic every year.

"It's a reunion for these guys," Ron Baker said. "I do it for them."