Mother Nature Extends Christmas Break

Joe’s Tires welcomed area children of all ages to enjoy sledding on the hill at Barnesville High School on Tuesday afternoon.   

In addition to offering hot chocolate and cookies after the “fun on the snow”, Joe’s provided some sledding tubes for those without their own disks, tubes, runner sleds or toboggans!

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Belmont County officials declared a Level 2 Snow Emergency overnight Sunday as the first of two snowstorms greeted residents Monday morning. The week ended with a Level 1 declaration late Friday night as more snow fell creating treacherous travel conditions Saturday.  

Cancelations or postponements of events and public meetings was the norm this past week. Schools and libraries as well as many businesses including all area branches of Wheeling-based WesBanco were closed Monday.

School students were out most of the week, classes only resuming following the extended Christmas break on Friday. Sports contests were a mixed bag with only Thursday’s events taking place.

Saturday’s wrestling contests at Tuscarawas County’s Indian Valley High School and Marysville were also canceled.

While December 25 did not result in a “White Christmas”, members of the St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Barton north of St. Clairsville, did enjoy one Monday, January 6, when Christmas is celebrated on the Julian Calendar.

Local members of the Amish faith also marked January 6 as “Old Christmas”.  According to the website Best of Ohio‘s Amish Country, “the Amish have kept their tradition of celebrating Old Christmas while also adopting a December 25 Christmas celebration along with mainstream culture. An Old Christmas celebration for the Amish differs from a December 25 Christmas celebration. For example, on Old Christmas, the Amish will fast until noon and then celebrate with a large meal later in the day. Amish employees do not work on Old Christmas, and many Amish-staffed businesses are closed for the holiday”.

Local Temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing until next Friday, January 17 meaning the current snow cover will be with us for a while.