Trending
It's tough to go anywhere or talk with too many people before the subject of conversation turns to the problems in our area.
There are, unfortunately, many, and they cover a wide range of topics, from aging infrastructure -- an issue that plagues all of our communities -- to continuing issues with drugs and all of the problems that go along with them.
But there are many good things happening right around us, things that can bring us together, and they continue to offer reasons for optimism.
For example, thousands of residents from around the Tri-State Area made their way to Steubenville Friday night for the September installment of First Fridays on Fourth. The theme was Storybook Fridays, and the event offered a wide variety of events, from activities for children, to locally produced craft beers to live music.
First Fridays remains one of those rare local events that can successfully span multiple seasons, stretching from the late spring through the summer and into the fall. That makes the theme of the final installment, Fall Festival, which will be held Oct. 6, most appropriate.
Friday also marked the return of the Friendship Cluster dog show to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds at Friendship Park in Smithfield. The four-day show is expected to feature more than 800 dogs, representing 130 breeds.
The annual event, which is presented by the Fort Steuben Kennel Association, the St. Clairsville Kennel Club and the Trumbull County Kennel Club, for area residents to watch dogs and their handlers in action, while showing off the amenities available at Friendship Park -- and providing a nice boost to the region's economy.
Toronto, meanwhile, will come alive on Saturday and Sunday with the return of the city's art festival. The annual event brings food, music and crafts to the streets of the Gem City for what has become a traditional part of the community's Labor Day weekend celebration.
And then on June 13, this year's Wednesdays in Wintersville series will come to a close. The event will carry a homecoming theme, and, as always, will feature food and craft vendors, lots of activities and plenty of live music.
Historic Fort Steubenville once again will give Tri-State Area residents the chance to Celebrate the Constitution. Held in conjunction with the Fort Steuben Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the annual exhibit, which was developed by the National Archives, offers a detailed look at the document that is the basis of our government.
The exhibition will run Sept. 10-24, a period that includes Constitution Day, Sept. 17, which commemorates the Sept. 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution.
Those events are just the starting points for what figures to be a busy late summer and fall season.
Sept. 15-17 will see the return of the Brooke County Fair at Brooke Hills Park, the Wellsburg Apple Festival will return Oct. 6-8 and Follansbee will look to get a jump start on the holiday season when it holds its annual Christmas in the Park on Oct. 14-15.
And, somewhere in between all of those activities will come the opening of the bridge that will connect West Virginia State Route 2 in Wellsburg with Ohio State Route 7 in Brilliant. The completion of the long-anticipated project will provide another much-needed crossing of the Ohio River and will open up opportunities for economic growth on both sides of the river around those communities..
There still has not been an official announcement about the date, but some details that have slipped out indicate that among those attending the dedication ceremonies for the bridge -- which still has not been officially named -- will be Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice.
Those events will set the stage for an exciting run-up to the end of the year, which will include numerous Christmas parades and other activities.
It's a list that will include the Steubenville Lights Up the Night event on Nov. 21 at Historic Fort Steuben. That, in turn, will mark the opening of Christmas at the Fort and Steubenville's famous Nutcracker Village.
So, while the region does have some problems that need to be addressed, these events -- and many more that will be held around the area during the next several months -- remind us that there are plenty of good things to look forward to.
(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)