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So sit back and enjoy this show. Thanks for tuning in. So starting out here with Summer right now around the corner that can be only one thing. Waterfront Wednesday is in full swing down Heritage Port.
And we got the brain behind the operation. Tim Burst joining me. He's the operation supervisor for the City of Wheeling. Tim, thanks for taking the time to talk to us a little.
Oh, my pleasure to be here. So let's talk about the first Waterfront Wednesday of the season. Of course, you had the Wheeling Park, jazz and steel drum band playing for you and maybe a little bit of a scare with the weather, maybe some thunderstorms, maybe not. It was a big scare.
We had 70% chance of rain pretty much throughout the whole concert. We called it and put it inside the arena the other night. And it still was a great concert. The kids, that's kind of a annual thing for us.
Every first concert we always invite to Wheeling Park High School, jazz and steel drum band down. And they do a great job for us. They bring out all the moms and dads and uncles and a lot of people come out to get the schedule because it is the first concert. And they did a wonderful job for us.
Unfortunately, I had to be inside. I just don't like it's just not as much fun being out under the stars and everything. Exactly with it. And especially with it being a steel drum band or it was just kind of the summer vibes.
Yeah, it was outside doing Missons Margarita. Exactly. So we kind of know the protocol now for if there is inclement weather. You guys either move it inside West Bank or arena if it's available or the center of the area.
Then a recruiter and the staff at the West Bank or very nice and work with us very well. So we try to get to if they don't have a previous engagement going. It is. So Waterfront Wednesday been going on for a few years now.
How did this come to be? Well, there's two amphitheaters down at Heritage Park. A lot of people don't understand that. But the first the original amphitheater is the North amphitheater, which is now called the Veterans Memorial Amphitheater.
And 32 years ago, we built the amphitheater, but we didn't have anything going on down there. So we thought it might be a good idea to start having some concerts. So we started Waterfront Wednesday. And then when the new amphitheater was created, everyone decided they wanted to go down there and have it down there every Wednesday.
So we moved it down there and it's been down there ever since. But it's about 32 years older than the Heritage Port, for that matter. And it's been going for 32 years. And it's really kind of interesting how it's blossomed out because there are a lot of concerts like our two tap and Tuesdays we have in Garden Park and Warwood and Wheeling Park out in the weather.
What would that be? The Stamps Lane area, Wheeling Park area, whatever you want to call it, at that amphitheater. And then there are other communities. Moundsville's got a concert series going on.
Steubenville just a few years ago built their Fort Steuben. And now they're having concerts in their Fort Steubenville. And there's just so many concerts that have started up since we did ours. Good to get it.
So when you look back, a little over 30 years from when it first started, what do you think contributed to the success the most? All the people. Yes, matter of fact, I'm very rarely does a year go by that I don't get two or three people come up to me and come on how much they enjoy the concerts, how they schedule their vacations around them, all that kind of stuff. Oh, yeah, and my biggest thrill is when I hear from somebody from a bigger city, somebody comes from out in Columbus or a bigger city come in and say, we've got nothing like this.
You know, every once in a while they might have a festival or something, but they don't have a weekly concert where everybody can just play on going down and enjoy some good music. So that kind of gives me a thrill. Whenever you've got a big city like Columbus giving you that much praise, that's got to make you feel good. Yeah, I had a gentleman before Steubenville started their concerts used to come down and say how he bases all summer off our concerts so that he could make sure he wouldn't miss any.
That's awesome right there. Again, talking to Tim Birch, the Operation Supervisor for the city of Wheeling, talking a little bit about Waterfront Wednesday that's going on every Wednesday from now until August 29th. So let's jump right into the lineup for this year's Waterfront Wednesday and what kind of goes into the selection process for the lineup? Well, I try to mix it up.
I'm constantly going out and trying to find a new entertainment and check it out, you know, I'll go to other festivals and different things. And I'm always trying to look for that new and different type of act that, well, first of all, I can afford and secondly, doesn't have to come from real far away. This year we've got some of the old, I hate to say old, but some of the standards that everybody really likes is, well, like we have the Brighton Boys, we have them coming down out of Pittsburgh and they're a big draw. We have the Joseph Sisters, they're local girls here and they always put on a wonderful show.
And we have Horton-Jones, they're from over in the St. Clairville area, and they're probably one of the top bands in the area. They do a great job. Now, everyone knows that we own Symphony for July 4th.
Yeah, I can bet that when you saw in the calendar that July 4th falls on a Wednesday, you had to be grinning from here to here. That's what happens about every three years. So, yeah, it's always a good time. Vince Villanova's big band, we always have them the week after 4th of July for two reasons.
One, they always do a good job and everybody loves to hear big band music. But the second reason is that for some reason, the symphony gets rained out and the fireworks get rained off. We always have the fireworks for Vince Villanova's big band. So, it's kind of a two-fold thing.
Yeah, and then we have Ben Frost and coming in. We always have a polka night. I figure we have the Italian festival, we need one for the Polish clan. So, we put on a polka night and this year we got little John in the ATM band, they'll be down there.
So, wear your dance and shoes to go polka. And then we have the wonderful hit play and this really sharp band called Rumors. They're out of the Steubenville, Weirton area. We call that our dance party night.
They play a ton of really good dance music. So, I invite everybody to come down and dance on the stage. We have this huge stage. So, there's plenty of room for both.
And then I feel probably the best country band in three states, at least 11-70 band. They'll be back again this year. We've had them about three years now. And they come back for about four jobs every year and ours is one of them.
And then we have the M80s, they're funny. I mean, they do all the 80s music. They're real high energy. They're running around the amphitheater.
They're just, all I can say is you got to see it to believe it. They're a lot of fun and high energy group. How about because the 80s music these days is kind of leaning more towards my generation. Yeah.
I'm not really sure. But when you go down and see they're jumping up and down in there, like I said, when the bunch Maxwell is one of the singers in the group and he does one song where he just runs completely around the entire amphitheater. He comes back and yeah, I'm telling you, it's pretty, if nothing else, we are extremely entertaining. So, come on down and check that out.
And then we always have the ever popular Easy Street that finishes out the season this year. And I think everybody's heard of Easy Street. They've been on a staple in our area for a long time. And then we have the other, I don't know if you want to talk about the tote happen Tuesdays.
The first and third Tuesday of every month, June, July, August are at Wheeling Park. And we call that tote happen to because that was the second one that came around. And the regular tote happen comes, they are on the second and fourth Tuesday every month. And here again, it's a lot of, we try to diversify with some country and some rock and that type of thing.
And it works out really well. You can find it here. I've got so many things going on. Another thing too, that's got started this year by the library was their Heritage Port story time.
Every Thursday, 11 a.m. they have a storyteller through the month of June and July down at the Northern Veterans Memorial Amphitheater. And they have a little story time for younger kids in that. It makes for a really great audience.
For parents and their kids, they can bring a picnic lunch. They can run around the playground, the Heritage Port playground for a while and come down with a story or vice versa. And then maybe go find a bench or something and have a picnic lunch. It's really neat.
And something else that's going on with you guys for Friday nights, the Riverfront movie. Yes, we got four Riverfront movies this year. One's coming up this week, Friday this week we have Wonder, which starts at dark, which is usually right around, I guess, 930. So it goes kind of late.
I get a kick out of that too because we have a lot of families that bring their kids down there for that. And when they do, they all come in their pajamas. And it's usually like a big slumber party with about four or five kids and a couple parents. And we have a local church that gives out free popcorn.
And they'll be sitting in the seats about halfway through the movie. I'll turn around and look back and they're all asleep. So all these poor parents are dragging these kids back to the car. It's always a good time though.
So again, talking here with Tim Birch, the operations supervisor for the city of Wheeling, talking about all the things that the city has going on. And M.A. Lee Waterfront Wednesday, which is again going on every Wednesday from now until August 29. So Sam, I will get you out of here on this final question here.
Just looking at the lineup for this Waterfront Wednesday. Like you said, you try to get the new accent there, but you also get the Joseph Sisters who have gotten a little bit of national attention and also Matt Van Fossen, 1170, both of them on the Jamboree and the Hill. So it's got to feel good to have a lineup like this that has such a great mix, not just in genre, but also in varying levels of experience. Oh yeah, matter of fact, we've had Brad Paisley on Waterfront Wednesday, journey many times.
So yeah, he's got his start here too. But yeah, I'm very proud of both of the entertainers that have come through our gates. And I'm very proud of what it is spawned with other concerts in other areas. Like I set up OBLI Desert now in various different communities.
So it's a wonderful legacy. So how can people learn more about these events? Oh, we've got schedules everywhere. The Visitor Center at 14th and Maine has a schedule.
Panhandle restoration was very nice enough to print out these wonderful summer events schedules, and it takes care of every event from Toronto down to Mountsville. And it has everything I've talked about, the library readings, the every festival from the Italian festival festival, now at the Heritage Board, all the Waterfront Wednesdays. I mean, it is a complete guide to every concert that I know of. So if you swing by the Visitor Center down there, they'll be more than glad to load you up with them and you can hang them out to your friends.
So after this conversation, I don't want to hear anybody saying that there is nothing to do in Wheeling. So much to do during this time of the year. Tim, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today. Thank you so much for having me and have a wonderful summer.
So there you go. A lot of fun stuff happening in Wheeling this summer. And again, I thank Tim Birch for joining me here on Weekend Focus to talk about all the great things going on. So before we get to Jay Adams, I'd like to quickly run down the community calendar right here.
Our Lady of Lebanon Church is holding a rummage sale. It's starting up this weekend, Saturday, June 2nd from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you miss out on June 2nd, don't worry.
Two other days for the sale, Friday, June 8th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturday, June 9th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
And keep in mind that June 9th is a half-price day. So a good day to get some treasures and get some deals on that as well. Again, that's at the Our Lady of Lebanon Church at 2216 Oak Street in Wheeling. Moving on now to something else that's going on on Saturday, June 9th.
The Strand Theatre Preservation Society is holding an all-you-can-eat Louisiana shrimp oil. Like I said, on Saturday, June 9th at Grandview Park, doors will be opening at 6 p.m. with the first shrimp drop at 6.30 p.m. Tickets for the event cost $25, there will be a cash bar at the event and $10 drink bands.
You can email mmec.comcast.net for registration. Again, if you want to be a part of the Miles-Per-Mic 5k, run and walk for PTSD awareness, that's happening Saturday, June 16th at the Shadyside Loop Festival. Email mmec.comcast.net. Elsewhere, the Wheeling-Elks Junior Golf Scramble is happening Wednesday, June 20th at Oak will be part.
It's free and open to boys and girls ages 7 to 18 years old, but space is limited and you must sign up by this coming Thursday, June 7th. So if you want to sign up, call Bob Joseph at 304-277-4446, again at number 307-4446. And finally here, don't forget folks, the Wheeling Farmers Market is back in season. We are looking forward to another great year and just praying for great weather right now.
Exactly. So the camp is now celebrating its 15th year and thousands upon thousands of kids have attended this camp so far. So what has made the C3 Soccer Camp such a big hit with not just the kids but the parents as well? I think one of the main ingredients is that it's free.
A lot of kids don't have the opportunity to go to camps during the year, and this allows them a camp.com and have fun and people hug them and tell them a little bit about soccer too. But I think that's one of the main elements that it is free and it always has been. One of the major things that we wanted to do from the beginning was introduce kids to soccer at a very young age. It's for boys and girls 4 to 10, so we are working with younger kids, but at the same time the main part of the camp and the main point of the camp is to introduce them to the game.
Let them have fun. Exactly, and again the chance to run around a little bit. I know I was looking at the events. Pretty much a rundown of what's going on at the camp.
It's pretty much one hour of soccer instruction and 30 minutes of skits and some other things. In a way they're learning the game, but at the same time you hear these health initiatives getting kids getting 60 minutes of play every day. Yeah, it is. And they are moving for 60 minutes.
They have a lot of fun. We're putting them through age-appropriate drills. Some of the 4 to 5 year olds, if you have 200 of those guys, you know, because we'll have 450 kids at camp. So with that kind of number it takes a little bit of chaos to create the evening and that definitely happens.
But like you said, it is good exercise and they're having fun with the songs and skits after soccer and it's good three days. Awesome. So I was looking at the camp brochure about a few days ago, getting ready for the show. The slogan that you have listed on the brochure is the greatest save.
What was the inspiration behind that slogan? Well, in soccer when a goalie prevents the ball from going in the net, it's called save. And with a church inspired theme at C3, we thought the greatest save being Christ saving us as well as the soccer theme that it kind of worked out kind of neat. And we had that in our information for all these years.
So like I mentioned in the beginning, we're talking here with Jay Adams, a camp coordinator for the C3 Soccer Camp. Again, going on June 10th through June 12th at the Lindsley School. So what was it that made Lindsley the place to be for this camp? Basically, basically their ability to host it and willingness to do it.
If you go back to 2003 when we started, we only had 60 kids. It was like a little thought never dreaming it'll grow into over 6,000 kids going through camp over the years. And the longevity we've had with Lindsley and the partnership. But they have been a true partner in this and allow us to go in there and basically take over the entire facility for three days, three nights and set up probably a mile of snow fence for security and just kind of tear their place apart.
And it was a place that everybody knew. It was a safe place that we could control as well as a common place that everybody could get to. And we had plenty of parking. And just a wide range of facilities over at Lindsley.
I was over there about a few months ago for calling a high school football game and just a beautiful campus and great facilities as well. Well, the great thing about it is the gyms that they have available. So if we have rain, we just go inside. We have three gyms there.
We break up the kids in the groups that they were outside. It's not as easy. It's a little bit crazy. It's a little bit warm in there when you put them and people in the gyms.
But at the same time, it gives us the ability to have camp every night. And that's been not every time. Not every time we have a problem with the weather, but sometimes we do. And we don't have a problem.
And that's the big thing right there, if it is raining, they will move it inside. So they're trying to do the best they can with the bigotry you don't have as big of a little laundry. Because I can imagine being wet out there slipping inside and it might be very bad. It could be very bad.
But that's a good thing about the facility. So you are the father of two of the instructors. They'll be at the camp chat and Jason, tell me a little bit about what your sons will be bringing to the table when it comes to instructing the kids. They're the camp directors and they are the ones in charge of developing the staff and getting the people involved to help.
And that is college coaches, high school coaches, players from both college and high school, local club kids, and Jamie, or Jamie. Jason and Chad will be the guys who basically put the curriculum together and it will be age appropriate again. And they will oversee that. They have for the last 15 years and worked with me on the camp.
And it's been a blessing in many, many ways. And the kids are going to be getting some high quality instruction from Chad and Jason because both were great players in the OVAC, both standouts at Princeton University. So not only great athletes, but great smart as well going to Princeton. Yeah, that was something we didn't see coming and happened.
And I mentioned Jamie before, he also went there, he's their older brother. So it's been a very special place for us as well as Linsley. They were all at Linsley. And that was a great place to get their start.
So all kinds of types of ones. We do. We have a lot of people who are in the camp. They're probably since 1985 or something like that.
So they're good people and good friends and incredible partners. Good deal. So we mentioned a little bit earlier that this will be an indoor and outdoor camp. So if it's nice outdoors, kids are going to be outside.
If by chance there's inclement weather, they will move the camp indoors. And something else to bring up here. Soccer balls will be supplied if the kids need them, right? We do.
We have hundreds of soccer balls and they're there and ready. If you have one, bring it, put your name on it. It makes it a little easier. But if you need one, we do have them and make a use of them.
So this is an interesting year to have a soccer camp or just do anything with soccer because the World Cup is going to be going on here in a couple of weeks. So how do you think this big tournament will influence the turnout for this year's game? Well, World Cup, unfortunately, for the U.S. this year is not the World Cup that we've had over the last 20 years.
And not qualifying is not fun. That generates so much interest in young soccer players watching our guys play against the best people in the world. Especially when the women's team a couple of years ago was on that run to win the World Cup. Yeah, and they won two or three of them now.
So kudos to them. But the interest in soccer in World Cup year is amazing. It's only once every four years and you get to see the best players in the world own one place. Unfortunately, we won't be there.
But I think the soccer is pushed to the forefront this year as it is every four years with World Cup. So it will be more on their minds than usual and I think they will have fun doing it. Do you tend to see a spike in attendance as they usually go up during World Cup years? We really couldn't say that.
When you're dealing with four and ten year olds, it's not something that maybe the older kids are starting to follow. The younger kids really have no idea. They're just happy to be there. You're happy to be there and running around and just having fun learning the game.
Exactly. So again, we're talking here with Jay Adams, the camp coordinator for the C3 Soccer Camp again going on from June 10th to June 12th over at the Lindsley School. So let's go ahead and dive into the camp philosophies. Like I mentioned, a big part of it will be addressing the skills part of the camp.
So what can kids expect from the soccer aspect of the camp? From the soccer aspect, the younger kids, the four or five year olds will be playing a bunch of the little different games, learning basics, learning how to stop a ball, learning how to kick a ball, learning how to not get in a net. They'll do some running games and so on just to keep them busy. As you get older, you get up to the nine and ten year olds, they'll be playing some short-sighted games.
They'll be playing games that have more skill involved in it and more thought involved in it. It's one of those things where we do not want a kid who has never played the game not to be afraid. We want everybody who wants to come to feel comfortable because it's one of those things where our philosophy is just to take you to your next level, whatever it is. Exactly.
If that's just learning to kick the ball first time or learning to do a rainbow, whatever it is, we're there to try to help and we see all different levels of talent. That'll be the first part of the camp that goes on each day. They'll go on for about an hour or so. The final half hour is directed towards spiritual sharing, as it's called in the pamphlet right here.
What's your aim with the spiritual aspect of the camp? Our main aim is this is part of the fun part two. One that there's going to be skits and it's a run on skits. It's the same skit every night but it has a different ending and it builds to a kalamax on the last day.
The kids just absolutely love the skits. When we do surveys, the parents, the skits is almost the number one thing. They just love it. We have that going on.
We'll sing two or three songs and the kids love to do that too. At the very end we have about a five minute message and we're just introducing them to the man Jesus. We just want them to know that they have a God who loves them, somebody that they can be with every day, somebody that's real. In today's world, people need that kind of partnership with God.
They need to know that he's there, that he's going to be there every day, that they can know him and that he can be here for him. That's really important to us. It was important for us not to make church a building and to meet people where they were. If it's on soccer feel great.
If it's in a coffee shop great, whatever it is, it was meeting people where they were in life and having the opportunity to share just a little bit about Jesus and who he is. That's all we're trying to do here is just share a little bit about who this guy is and how he can be the friend. Good deal again. Talking again with Jay Adams, the camp coordinator for the C3 Soccer Camp, which again will be going on June 10th through June 12th at the Lindsley School.
We'll give out some contact information about how you can roll your child into the camp here in a few minutes. We just want to throw out here that the fun doesn't stop on June 12th. You guys have a soccer Sunday that goes on the following Sunday on June 17th. So what can everybody expect from that?
That's a great day. All the kids wear their camp t-shirts. Last night or next to last night, they get camp t-shirts. They all wear them the next day.
We take a big camp picture and everything and it's all great. And then on the following Sunday, which will be the 17th, they come to C3, which is located at the bottom of Bethany Pike, Obehill. At 11 o'clock service, they all wear their shirts. They go up front.
They sing their camp song. They have fun. They go to our Cup Kids program. And then after that, we have a picnic form and inflatables and face painting and all kinds of different things that they just have a great time doing.
So it's a great day. The whole family comes. Probably be six, seven hundred people there that morning. And we just take care of everybody.
It's all free and we just love it. It's a good way to bring everybody together to kind of bring some closure to the camp. Exactly. So Jay, I'll get you out here on this last question here.
What are some of the main things that kids can take away from being at this camp? I think the main thing is like we talked about before is soccer is fun sport. It's something you can do in life for a long time. And a lot of people haven't ever tried it or been exposed to it.
Secondly, that C3 is a church like many others that care about kids and what they're going through in life today and they just want to be there to help if possible and introduce them to Jesus. And third, that we love them and they're going to have fun and their parents are going to feel safe and secure and as well as the kids. So a good organization doing some good things for the kids with the C3 soccer camp. Again going on from June 10th to June 12th over at the Lindley School.
If you'd like to register your child for the camp, you can visit www.c3wheeling.com And there will be an online application on the website. That's true. And or if they can't do that, they can register on site June 10th. Good deal.
So you can register on site. Once the camp starts June 10th, you can register online. Again www.c3wheeling.com or you can give them a ring over at 304-905-9000. Again 304-905-9000.
Three freeways right there for you to register your kid for the C3 soccer camp again going on June 10th through June 12th over at the Lindley School. Jay, thank you so much for taking some time to talk out here. And with this being the final week maybe try to get some more kids over here. Yeah, we have hundreds registered already and plenty of room and we're looking forward to getting more.
Well hopefully plenty more kids and plenty of good weather for this. Yeah, that's helpful. Alright, thank you Jay. Thank you.
Appreciate it. Easy to see why that camp has become a success over the years. Big thanks to Jay Adams again for coming on with me here on Weekend Focus. Big thanks to Tim Birch as well for joining me.
And thank you for joining me as well. Really do appreciate it. And again, if you have a community calendar announcement or a show idea, email me, Corey Kluge at iHeartMedia.com. And if you want to listen to this episode again or listen to past episodes, catch the Weekend Focus podcast on the free iHeartRadio app.
I'm Corey Kluge. Thank you again for joining me here on Weekend Focus. Now go out there and have yourself a good week. You deserve that.
We'll catch you next time here on Weekend Focus.