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The summer months are approaching, and that means there will be more activity in our communities as we see fairs and festivals, yard sales, concerts and more scheduled.
Our area includes so many communities, each offering something special, and many of them not too far away from each other. That means it's not too much trouble to find something to do no matter where you live.
Weirton's summer concert series kicked off Friday night with performances by 40+ and 7 South, along with a car cruise on the grounds of the Weirton Event Center. This series is organized each summer by the Top of West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau, with support from area businesses, to provide free, live musical entertainment almost every Friday through the summer.
The Follansbee Chamber of Commerce offers its own concert series with Monthly Monday Music Madness, bringing musical acts to Follansbee Park once a month.
Laurel Hollow Park in Newell will bring its first concert of the season on June 8 with Bill Crawford performing, and 40+ will be in Chester June 11 to help kick off the concert series there as well.
Steubenville began its own concerts Thursday night with Beatlemania Magic appearing at Fort Steuben, while community concerts in Toronto will set off a little later in the season with Por Man's Heaven at the Toronto Gazebo July 3.
If you want to go a little farther south, Wheeling offers its own concert events, along with movie nights, markets and more. Activities are plentiful at Oglebay, as well, which is offering numerous opportunities to check out some live entertainment.
Hancock County Parks offers three themed market events each year at the Gas Valley Road Sports Complex, and has been working on hosting movie nights and other activities to highlight the local parks and playgrounds under its purview.
Weirton Parks has worked to offer a couple of movie nights of its own, usually at Starvaggi Park, and is always looking at new activities for the community. Keep in mind, Weirton Parks also organizes the Weirton Independence Day parade, which will be coming up in just over a month.
That's our next big holiday, of course, and just about everyone will have some sort of celebration in the works.
Weirton has its parade, along with a performance by the Wheeling Symphony.
Chester typically hosts a parade and community carnival.
Wellsburg organizes a full week of activities, with concerts, races, parades, competitions and games for everyone.
Holy Trinity in Steubenville and All Saints in Weirton each are organizing their respective Greek festivals, with celebrations of their culture's food and traditions.
The Follansbee Community Days, in mid July, will feature multiple days of music, vendors, a car show, fireworks and fun.
Many of these can be found through the recently released Ohio Valley Summer Events Guide, published with support from Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration, with a schedule of activities specifically in Hancock and Brooke counties online from the Top of WV CVB.
There will be golf tournaments, fishing events, races such as the Marland Heights 5K set for August.
Those are just some of the activities available from organizations and entities which make the plans.
Don't forget there are opportunities for all of us to get out on our own without someone planning it for us.
We have several parks and playgrounds available to us. There are lakes and rivers for those who enjoy fishing, boating and other water activities. Check out the walking and hiking trails whether it be at Tomlinson Run State Park, Brooke Hills, Oglebay, or the Panhandle Trail.
The weather has warmed, the sun is shining (usually), and there is a lot to do before we hit the next seasonal change.
(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @ChowellWDT)