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"I am completely smitten with the Lunch with Books patrons...who welcomed me like a long-lost cousin. It takes two to have a successful reading: an enthusiastic presenter and an engaged audience, and boy did the stars align for us." -Marie Manilla, Still Life with Plums

"Lunch With Books is an outstanding program -- one of the best in the country." -NPR Journalist Matthew Algeo, The President is a Sick Man


"With a new book in hand, I’ve visited a lot of libraries lately, and I think the Ohio County Public Library is my all-time favorite. People are kind and welcoming, and deeply appreciate a visiting writer." -Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule (National Book Award)

“I wanted the book launch to be at Lunch With Books because it is the best library book program in West Virginia and because Wheeling and the Wheeling area was centrally involved in so many of the firsts in West Virginia sports.” –Bob Barnett, Hillside Fields: A History of Sports in West Virginia

This blog is being discontinued.

This blog is being discontinued.
Please visit: www.ohiocountylibrary.org/calendar

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Library to Celebrate Capitol Reopening with Silent Film Screening

On Tuesday evening, September 22 at 7 pm, the Ohio County Public Library, in partnership with the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, will offer a free screening of the first motion picture ever shown at Wheeling’s historic Capitol Theatre.

The event will be a part of the community-wide celebration of the reopening of the Capitol and will follow historian Kate Quinn’s Lunch With Books presentation on the history of the famous theatre scheduled for Tuesday September 15 at noon in the library’s auditorium.

The sixty-eight minute Fox film, Romance of the Underworld, debuted in 1928, and starred Mary Astor as a gangster’s girlfriend who works in a nightclub but gets a chance at a new life with a little help from a kind cop played by Robert Elliott. The film also stars Ben Bard and Broadway favorite John Boles.

The library will screen an original 16 mm print of the film on loan from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Live piano music will accompany the film as the library’s auditorium is transformed into a 1928 movie theatre, complete with ushers, historically accurate food and beverages, and period music, costumes, etc.

Billed as “Wheeling’s New Million Dollar Theatre: A Wonderland of Entertainment,” the 3000 seat Capitol Theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28, 1928 at 12:30 pm. Admission for the “Gala Opening” was sixty cents.

In addition to Romance of the Underworld, the Capitol’s “First Mighty Offering” featured continuous entertainment from 1 pm to 11 pm, including the popular American tenor John Steele, stage plays, a pantomime act, song and dance, acrobats; and a special organ prelude featuring Dusty Rhodes at “the $50,000 Wonder Organ…the finest organ in West Virginia.” The Wheeling Intelligencer estimated that at least 15,000 people attended throughout the day.

The screening of Romance of the Underworld is free and open to the public. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.





This project is in partnership with the Wheeling National Heritage Arera Corporation.
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Top Ten Lunch With Books Programs

Program; Presenter; Attendance; Date

1. SAENGERFEST; Eintracht German Singing Society; 200; 07-17-10

2. A Lucky Child; Auschwitz Survivor Judge Thomas Buergenthal; 198; 03-04-11

3. Fashion Show; Civil War 150; 194; 11-20-11

4. Ruanaidh; Art Rooney, Jr. and Jim O'Brien; 168; 06-15-10

5. Follow the River; James Alexander Thom; 160; 06-05-08

6. Warwood Memories; 157; 12-18-12

7. The Quiet Man Pub Reading; 150; 08-30-12

8. Wheeling Then and Now; Sean Duffy; 146; 09-07-10

9. Bloch Brother Tobacco; Stuart Bloch; 131; 04-27-10

10. Reasons to Believe; Dr. Scott Hahn; 126; 08-21-07

Book Discussion Groups

The Ohio County Public Library facilitates book discussion groups for both young adults and adults. Currently, the OCPL offers two adult groups, which meet on the first Monday and third Thursday of each month.

In addition to its own growing collection, the OCPL has access to the book discussion collection of the West Virginia Library Commission.

To join or form a book discussion group, or for more information, please call 304-232-0244.

Meeting of the Minds Philosophy Group

The Meeting of the Minds Philosophic Inquiry Forum is facilitated by David Weimer. The group meets virtually every Tuesday at 6 PM. Call the library for meeting room locations.

For more information, visit www.firstknowthyself.org/m&mphilosophy.htm or contact group organizer, David Weimer, at 740 526-0985 or by email at dwwweimer@comcast.net..