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Neville Street, Follansbee, West Virginia.
Follansbee, WV
Mahan Avenue, Follansbee, West Virginia.
The Lee Family Celebrating 25 Years with DeFelice Bros. in Bethlehem
They believed it was their magic number, so they tried to figure it out. How many pizzas would it take? Per day? Every day? Seven days per week. And every week, too. That’s what Denny and Colleen Lee tried to figure out one evening a little more than a quarter of a century ago because they were only a “Yes” decision away from becoming the new owners of a DeFelice Bros. Pizza shop along East Bethlehem Boulevard. “We decided to go out one night to Cheers Bar in Moundsville (because) one of our best friends was bartending there,” recalled Colleen Lee. “So, on a bar napkin, we tried to figure out how many we would have to make to open a business and to stay in business. It was a hell of a lot more than we anticipated, I can tell you that. But we were confident. Colleen and Denny worked together in Bethlehem until they purchased the Wheeling store in 2014, and Denny began managing that location. “And these days the shops average 130 to 140 pies a day along with our other items,” Colleen said. “But that’s an average and it depends on a lot of things, like the day of the week and the time of year, but we’ve been lucky because the valley enjoys our pizza.” The couple is now celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of their Bethlehem location – December 17th, 2000 – and they’ve also owned and operated the Wheeling location at 1000 National Road for since 2014. “It’s taken a lot of hard work. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Literally. A lot,” Colleen explained. “We’ve made so many friends through the years, too. I have several good friends today because they were customers first. Mark Miller is the manager of the DeFelice Brothers Pizza shop in Bethlehem and has been practicing the art of the heart-shaped pizza for several years. “And we have former employees who have gone off to be very successful in the military, as doctors and PAs, and there are so many others. We’ve watched them grow up,” she said with a broad smile. “It really has been a big family and that’s been one of the best parts of owning the shops.” “I don't know how to describe it,” said Denny Lee, who is known to many as “Digger”. “I honestly don't know what to say. It was the biggest decision she and I ever made, and we’ve worked hard to get where we are today. “It is nice to be in the position where we can help people in our community,” he said. “We do what we can because that’s important to us.” Once the loan was secured, the construction began on the lot that's located along East Bethlehem Boulevard between Wheeling's Elm Grove neighborhood and the village of Bethlehem. ‘The Pizza Worth Going After’ They knew food. Denny was employed at a number of restaurants for several years before and after his graduation from West Liberty State College, and Colleen, a Shadyside native who was no stranger to the pizza at DeFelice Bros., had worked in the catering industry for several years before the two eyed up the entrepreneurial opportunity. DeFelice Bros. Pizza was founded in 1982 by Dom and T.J. DeFelice, and the business quickly started expanding to other communities in the Upper Ohio Valley. Today, there are 10 locations, including Moundsville, Martins Ferry, Newark, Shadyside, St. Clairsville, Wintersville, Follansbee, Weirton, Wheeling, and Bethlehem. The Lees quickly became very involved with the Wheeling community with a plethora of donations over the years to local charitable events. These days, Digger operates the Wheeling shop full-time and Colleen assists her son, Mark Miller, with the management of the Bethlehem location. “I remember that we were anxious to sign for the loan for the Bethlehem shop because we knew we were hard workers, and we knew we could make it work. And Denny’s dad (Dick Lee) had a lot of confidence in us, too,” Colleen said. “He had faith in us, and he invested in us, too. “And then just over 10 years after we opened in Bethlehem, we bought the Wheeling store and Denny runs it,” he said. “The loan for the Wheeling store was approved on the 13th anniversary of the opening of the Bethlehem store.” The DeFelice mascots, "T.J." and "Dominic," still make appearances around the Upper Ohio Valley. And it all happened for a reason. “The restaurant we were working at closed, and we didn’t know what we were going to do next,” Colleen remembered. “He went to work for the Denny’s corporation in Pittsburgh, and I got a job as a teller at United Bank in downtown Wheeling, but we knew we wanted to own our own business. But when we tried to buy a catering company, it didn’t work out so we just kept doing what we were doing. “But then we went on a vacation to Denny’s brother’s house (in Florida) and talked more about it, and that’s when I told him about Dom and that Dom thought I should open a DeFelice pizza shop,” she explained. “The funny part is that Denny never had DeFelice pizza until he met me, and here we are 25 years later with two shops.” https://ledenews.com/defelice-pizza-in-bethlehem-becomes-generational/ https://ledenews.com/defelice-reveals-his-biggest-decisions-over-40-years-of-pizza/ Read the full article
(Publisher's Note: Anyone who loves live music knows Pam, has met Pam, or has seen Pam at a show, and in case you're still clueless, one more hint: She's part of the "wonderful" when it comes to a live and local music environment here in the Upper Ohio Valley. Pam is about the vibe, and yes, her groove adds to it, and if she's really feeling it, she'll aim her phone for a live session on Facebook. Pam is a friend, she's a smile, she loves her musical world, and you're lucky if you're allowed in. So, meet Pam.)Imagine a hundred – no, a thousand – televisions, and each of the units is blaring something different but all in the same voice – YOUR VOICE! – and the messages are all different and in unmatching tones and pitches.STOP! GO! … What do you mean? I. DON’T. KNOW! … Where are you? … Which way? … IT’S TOO HOT HERE! … Is it raining outside? It’s cloudy. IT IS SUNNY! … Where is everyone? … It’s so dark. … I can feel that. … SOMETHING IS GRABBING ME! Go right. … Left. … No one is here. I’M ALONE! Stand there. … Over there. … Whisper. I SAID WHISPER! But why there? … I feel lost. … I’m going to be sick. … WAIT!!! … Is someone there?For Pam Ewusiak, those TVs are the workings of the devils deep in the depths of her bipolar disease.But then she steps into something like an Adrian Niles song …Talk me down, talk me down.Talk me down, talk me down.Abandoned lovers and the bird of prey.Put bones in the river to throw away.I’m carving your name in my arm tonight.Talk me down, talk me down.I got my ticket for an early flight.“The only time it all stops is when the music starts,” she confided quietly. “It’s peaceful for me. Sometimes my mind will focus on the drums, or the vocals, or the guitar. It’s like a different world for me. Finally, I’m not spinning myself in circles or yelling at myself. I can close my eyes and just listen to the music, and that is my personal Heaven.”Adrian Niles is one singer/songwriter Ewusiak seeks out often when looking for a live show to attend.Ride OnRiver City. Garbo’s The Prima. McLure House Bar & Grill. The Pittsburgh Winery. The Barrel House. 19th Hole. Oglebay. Undo’s.The Follansbee resident gets around.“Hey, I love live music, and I love being around musicians who play the music that I really enjoy,” Ewusiak said. “There have been times a day later I go see a band perform when my brain is still quiet, and that is a blessing because being bipolar sucks, and I was diagnosed in my 40s, but I think I’ve been bipolar since I was 5 years old. “For me, it’s a mental up and a mental down, and most of the time I catch the positive rides, but not all of the time. There are those negatives when I just seem to be yelling all of these horrible things at myself, and I can’t make sense of any of it,” she explained. “But yeah, the music scares it all off.”It was a gift she gave herself 20 years ago when, for her 46th birthday, Ewusiak put the buzz down.“That’s when I quit drinking and doing all kinds of stuff, and I started to concentrate on doing positive things. I had decided no more drinking and no more smoking,” she admitted. “That’s when I told myself that I could either sit in this town and die of depression, or you can go out wherever and behave. “I decided to go out, and what I ended up doing was rewarding myself by going to see live music wherever it may be. That’s why it seems like I’m everywhere,” Ewusiak laughed. “If there is a show I can possibly get to, I go. I love it that much.”Ewusiak loves to attend as many live music shows as possible, and she will travel throughout the Valley.Ticking ClockShe’s more worried about how much life she has left now that she’s a non-smoker and non-drinker than when she was passing out behind the wheel with the engine running.But that is only because Ewusiak has realized how much time she’s lost because of those drinks and smokes. “You don’t realize what you’re doing to yourself when you’re doing it to yourself. You don’t,” she said smartly.“But you realize it when you don’t feel it anymore. You don’t feel it in your lungs or in your head. Your brain doesn’t ache anymore,” Ewusiak explained. “It’s what I used to get away from the voices, but I figured out that’s not I what I needed anyway.” So, she searches for ways to fill her days.“I am always looking for new things to do in the Valley, but I will tell you that we do have a lot of fun things around here,” Ewusiak said. “But now that I am 66 years old, I feel I have to look for more and more so I can experience them before my time runs out. Since I quit drinking and smoking, I decided to live every day the best I can.“Some people my age want to sit back and relax, but that’s not me. That’s why I am always going full throttle,” she said with a laugh. “I just want to do what I haven’t done and then go to a great show afterward.”But which show? What artist?“Well, of course, I have my favorites. That’s human nature. But when I say I love them all, I really mean it,” Ewusiak insisted. “We’re lucky we have so much talent around here because it doesn’t matter if you’re listening to cover songs or originals. There’s really no bad music around here.“And it’s all different, too. Every cover band seems to play a different era of music, and the singer/songwriters are all very unique,” she explained. “I know we have some famous folks from here, but it amazes me it doesn’t happen more often. That’s how impressed I am with the music scene around here.” Read the full article
Uphill, both ways, without snow shoes but instead, something called galoshes over Pic Way shoes.That’s right, that’s what it was like to be a kid in the 1970s, and our story will not change.We didn’t have backpacks and our books were ridiculously gigantic and filled with mostly words and few photos. The boys, by the way, wore white shirts and long, polyester, blue pants and we had our NFL letterman jackets with matching toboggans, but the girls?Thin white blouses, and skirts. With no real options. It was cruel, really.And the snow seemed deeper and the temperatures lower, and our classrooms inside that old brick building were see-our-breath chilled with radiators waiting to scorch our bitterly brisk hands. Our recesses were moved from the church parking lots to inside the gymnasium, and at any second we were allowed outside, snowballs flew with ill intent. But every once in a while, there was the “Snow Day.”The “Snow Day” seemed like another Sacrament from The Lord to a Catholic kid praying for a break from the day-ins and day-outs of a grade school education, but that’s because they were very rare. We had to watch some weird WACO station on Channel 3, or we had to see it on WTRF TV-7 or hear it from the DJs on WKWK.That’s what made it real.There were early mornings, too, when the school doors would be locked even if the news didn’t report the call-off, and those days were extra blessed because we were up and ready for the thrills a sleigh ride offered. In and out of the cellar doors we went all day long, and our mothers – who were able to be home back in those days – would yell about our soaking wet clothing one moment and offer us hot cocoa the next.Those inches of snow allowed us to ride our sleds and tubes, and we skied, played make-shift Olympics games, punished public buses, ate the white-colored snow when thirsty, and we were free from the chalkboards, the sour milk, the uniforms, and the wicked rulers of an angry nun.“Snow Days” were truly glorious and never taken for granted since they were hard to come by “back in the day” because once upon a time ago a cold school and a slick and slippery bus ride were OK. Until they weren’t anymore, that is. Until Little Sally caught a bad cold and Little Jimmy’s busted and bloody nose – an injury sustained by smacking one’s face against the bus window during one of those adventurous rides – weren't funny anymore.And that’s when something called “liability” started meaning more than a day’s worth of education. It’s when the “Snow Day” became so common state governments had to approve and implement regulatory laws for minimum hours of classroom time because people would sue, and they would win because Little Sally’s bad cold and Little Jimmy’s nose were caused by bad judgment.And now, a few flurries and temperatures below freezing are worthy of consideration, and now, the “Snow Day” just isn’t the same.(Publisher's Note: This commentary was originally published in early 2024, but it seemed appropriate to share it again today. Be safe and stay warm.) Read the full article
Harry Fred Wells, age 53, of Follansbee, West Virginia, has admitted to possession of child pornography.According to court documents and statements made in court, Wells was under investigation for inappropriate contact with a minor through social media. Officers searched his home and his phone, finding child pornography.Wells is facing up to 20 years in federal prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.The Department of Homeland Security investigated.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Conklin is prosecuting the case on behalf of the government.U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. Mazzone presided.
(Publisher's Note: Anyone who loves live music knows Pam, has met Pam, or has seen Pam at a show, and in case you're still clueless, one more hint: She's part of the "wonderful" when it comes to a live and local music environment here in the Upper Ohio Valley. Pam is about the vibe, and yes, her groove adds to it, and if she's really feeling it, she'll aim her phone for a live session on Facebook. Pam is a friend, she's a smile, she loves her musical world, and you're lucky if you're allowed in. ... Meet Pam. Again.)Imagine a hundred – no, a thousand – televisions, and each of the units is blaring something different but all in the same voice – YOUR VOICE! – and the messages are all different and in unmatching tones and pitches.STOP! GO! … What do you mean? I. DON’T. KNOW! … Where are you? … Which way? … IT’S TOO HOT HERE! … Is it raining outside? It’s cloudy. IT IS SUNNY! … Where is everyone? … It’s so dark. … I can feel that. … SOMETHING IS GRABBING ME! Go right. … Left. … No one is here. I’M ALONE! Stand there. … Over there. … Whisper. I SAID WHISPER! But why there? … I feel lost. … I’m going to be sick. … WAIT!!! … Is someone there?For Pam Ewusiak, those TVs are the workings of the devils deep in the depths of her bipolar disease.But then she steps into something like an Adrian Niles song …Talk me down, talk me down.Talk me down, talk me down.Abandoned lovers and the bird of prey.Put bones in the river to throw away.I’m carving your name in my arm tonight.Talk me down, talk me down.I got my ticket for an early flight.“The only time it all stops is when the music starts,” she confided quietly. “It’s peaceful for me. Sometimes my mind will focus on the drums, or the vocals, or the guitar. It’s like a different world for me. Finally, I’m not spinning myself in circles or yelling at myself. I can close my eyes and just listen to the music, and that is my personal Heaven.”Adrian Niles is one singer/songwriter Ewusiak seeks out often when looking for a live show to attend.Ride OnRiver City. Garbo’s The Prima. McLure House Bar & Grill. The Pittsburgh Winery. The Barrel House. 19th Hole. Oglebay. Undo’s.The Follansbee resident gets around.“Hey, I love live music, and I love being around musicians who play the music that I really enjoy,” Ewusiak said. “There have been times a day later I go see a band perform when my brain is still quiet, and that is a blessing because being bipolar sucks, and I was diagnosed in my 40s, but I think I’ve been bipolar since I was 5 years old. “For me, it’s a mental up and a mental down, and most of the time I catch the positive rides, but not all of the time. There are those negatives when I just seem to be yelling all of these horrible things at myself, and I can’t make sense of any of it,” she explained. “But yeah, the music scares it all off.”It was a gift she gave herself 20 years ago when, for her 46th birthday, Ewusiak put the buzz down.“That’s when I quit drinking and doing all kinds of stuff, and I started to concentrate on doing positive things. I had decided no more drinking and no more smoking,” she admitted. “That’s when I told myself that I could either sit in this town and die of depression, or you can go out wherever and behave. “I decided to go out, and what I ended up doing was rewarding myself by going to see live music wherever it may be. That’s why it seems like I’m everywhere,” Ewusiak laughed. “If there is a show I can possibly get to, I go. I love it that much.”Ewusiak loves to attend as many live music shows as possible, and she will travel throughout the Valley.Ticking ClockShe’s more worried about how much life she has left now that she’s a non-smoker and non-drinker than when she was passing out behind the wheel with the engine running.But that is only because Ewusiak has realized how much time she’s lost because of those drinks and smokes. “You don’t realize what you’re doing to yourself when you’re doing it to yourself. You don’t,” she said smartly.“But you realize it when you don’t feel it anymore. You don’t feel it in your lungs or in your head. Your brain doesn’t ache anymore,” Ewusiak explained. “It’s what I used to get away from the voices, but I figured out that’s not I what I needed anyway.” So, she searches for ways to fill her days.“I am always looking for new things to do in the Valley, but I will tell you that we do have a lot of fun things around here,” Ewusiak said. “But now that I am 66 years old, I feel I have to look for more and more so I can experience them before my time runs out. Since I quit drinking and smoking, I decided to live every day the best I can.“Some people my age want to sit back and relax, but that’s not me. That’s why I am always going full throttle,” she said with a laugh. “I just want to do what I haven’t done and then go to a great show afterward.”But which show? What artist?“Well, of course, I have my favorites. That’s human nature. But when I say I love them all, I really mean it,” Ewusiak insisted. “We’re lucky we have so much talent around here because it doesn’t matter if you’re listening to cover songs or originals. There’s really no bad music around here.“And it’s all different, too. Every cover band seems to play a different era of music, and the singer/songwriters are all very unique,” she explained. “I know we have some famous folks from here, but it amazes me it doesn’t happen more often. That’s how impressed I am with the music scene around here.”