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W.A.R.
( Wellsburg’s Amazing Race )

August 06, 2005

Photo gallery

It was a lot of fun and the teams already want to sign up for next year.

     Several businesses in and around Wellsburg were bombarded with teams this past Saturday in a first of it’s kind competition sponsored by the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce. The W.A.R. (Wellsburg Amazing Race) had 16 teams of two people competing against one another in tasks they had to complete at 14 area businesses. Based on the reality television show The Amazing Race, the W.A.R. served as both a fundraiser for the Chamber and as a means for attracting people to businesses in and around town.

     “After the two floods in September and January along with the accompanying mudslides, a lot of our businesses lost customers,” Executive Director Kristine Roberts said. “We wanted to find a way to bring life back into the city as well as to show off some of our great businesses who are members of the Chamber and we thought this would be a fun way to go about it.”

     The race began at 9 a.m. at Brooke Hills Park and continued on to Wesbanco, the Brooke County Public Library, Robert Scott Lumber, Progressive Bank, Staffileno’s on the River, Brooke Furniture, CASA, Our Hero’s Hometown Restaurant, Little Bear Daycare, Campbell’s Pet Grooming and the Salvation Army before heading down to the furthest stop in Triadelphia at Ye Olde Renovators.

     “The teams did everything from paint by numbers to sorting through bags of clothes to stripping paint off of wood to get their next clues,” Roberts said. “Our participating businesses were very inventive in their choice of tasks.”

     The first place team of Adam and Charlotte Swiger were sponsored in part by Campbell’s Pet Grooming and crossed the finish line at 1:35 p.m. They won an overnight getaway package to Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort, two 2006 season golf passes to Brooke Hills Park, $100 worth of savings bonds from Wesbanco and Progressive Banks, and gift certificates to Brooke Furniture, Campbell’s Pet Grooming and the Salvation Army Thrift Store. The second place team of Hookie Withers and Leann Rigby received an overnight getaway at the Weirton Holiday Inn and the third place team of Lisa Minor and Tear Moore, sponsored by Progressive Bank, won a $50 gift certificate to Kroger.

     Though the first three teams across the finish line were pleased with their accomplishments, it was the 10^th place team who showed the most excitement. Margaret Fletcher and her daughter Jen screamed, hugged and jumped up and down as they made it to the end.

     “We were just glad we were able to finish and that we weren’t in last place,” Margaret Fletcher said. “We had so much fun!”

     The Chamber held a Business After Hours cookout later in the evening, sponsored by Little Bear Daycare and Ye Olde Renovators, to award the W.A.R. team prizes and to distribute door prizes from Domino’s Pizza, the Brooke County Public Library, Brooke Furniture, the Salvation Army Thrift Store, Butterflies from Heather and Ye Olde Renovators.

     The cookout featured an assortment of picnic foods as well as both barbeque and hot wings from Drover’s Inn. All of the teams and businesses had fun sharing stories of the day and expressed interest in a similar event for next year.

     “We will need to work out a few kinks, like how to keep our teams from speeding through town, if we do this again,” Roberts said. “They showed as much enthusiasm for this race as do the teams competing for a million dollars on the television show!”

Adam and Charlotte Swiger of Wellsburg break through the finish line at Brooke Hills Park’s Club House in the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce W.A.R. (Wellsburg Amazing Race) this past Saturday. The Swigers won an overnight getaway at Mountaineer Racetrack and Gaming Resort, two 2006 season golf passes to Brooke Hills Park, two $25 savings bonds from Wesbanco, one $50 savings bond from Progressive Bank, two $25 gift certificates to Campbell’s Pet Grooming, two $10 gift certificates to the Salvation Army Thrift Store and two $5 gift certificates to Brooke Furniture.

The winning W.A.R. teams took time at the end of the race to pose in front of Brooke Hill’s Park’s golf course. They are Hookie Withers and Leann Rigby, 2^nd place; Charlotte and Adam Charlotte Swiger, 1^st place; and Lisa Minor and Tear Moore whose 3^rd place team was sponsored by Progressive Bank.

Hookie Withers and Leann Rigby broke through the tape at the finish line nearly 15 minutes after the first place time.

The Progressive Bank team of Lisa Minor and Tear Moore ripped through the finish line with the same enthusiasm they used throughout the race. Other businesses sponsoring teams included Little Bear Daycare, Stephen A. Marino, CPA, The Good Cleaning Service, Curves and Campbell’s Pet Grooming.

Margaret Fletcher and her daughter Jen were perhaps the happiest 10^th place team in history. Amid hugs and shrieks of joy Margaret said “We’re just glad we finished and weren’t last!” Sixteen teams began the race and one elimination at the half way point pit stop, reduced the number to 15.

The “Whimsical Women of Windsor” Red Hat Society team was comprised of Judy Bartz and Stacy Hornick. The two said they had a blast and look forward to next year’s event.

The Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce held a Business After Hours cookout at the Brooke Hills Park later in the evening to honor the W.A.R. winners and the participating businesses. The event was well attended and included freshly grilled hot dogs and hamburgers as well as both barbeque and hot wings donated by Drover’s Inn.

Wellsburg Chamber Board members Wayne Campbell, Tina Postlethwaite and Steve Marino along with Executive Director Kristine Roberts congratulated the winners and presented them with their prizes at the cookout. The second place winners, who received an overnight getaway to Weirton’s Holiday Inn, did not make it back to the cookout. The third place team received a $50 gift certificate to Kroger. In the photo from left to right are Campbell, Postlethwaite, third place winners Lisa Minor and Tear Moore, Roberts, first place winners Charlotte and Adam Swiger and Marino.

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