Leave Your Mark
Leave Your Mark
Generous financial contributions from individuals like you help provide funds necessary to operate and grow Oglebay and Wheeling Park. Friends of Oglebay are people who believe in the importance of parks as places of discovery that build community.
Naming Opportunities
Add your name to the Oglebay and Wheeling Park story. Oglebay and Wheeling Park are filled with iconic facilities, attracting millions of visitors from around the globe, providing the local community with the best recreational amenities anywhere. A naming gift leaves a legacy in the Ohio Valley region for decades to come. Naming Gifts can be directed towards the construction of a new facility, the renovation or expansion of an existing facility, or the establishment of a permanent endowment to ensure the facility, amenity, or program remains for everyone forever.
For a list of Naming Opportunities approved by the Wheeling Park Commission, please call 304-243-4166.
Become a Friend
Friends of Oglebay is an organization of people and organizations who share a pride that Oglebay and Wheeling Park are unique and extraordinary. As members – and contributors to the annual fund – the Friends group is important in keeping our parks accessible and preserved for everyone forever.
While some friends designate their financial contributions to specific programs in the park system, many are left undesignated and can be used at the discretion of park commissioners and Oglebay Foundation Trustees. This base of unrestricted support is often matched with other grants and gifts, and is invested where most immediately needed or where opportunities are the greatest.
Youth Programs & Park Access
The Wheeling Park Commission offers a wide variety of youth programs in golf, tennis, soccer, hockey, skiing, and fishing and diverse educational programs at its many camps and the Good Zoo. The Friends of Oglebay help deserving youth participate in these programs through assisting with admission costs, providing transportation reimbursement, and development of youth program facilities. Each summer, more than 2,000 children make more than 20,000 visits to the parks.
Through a partnership with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, Ohio County youth become eligible for the Access to Parks program based on financial hardship. Because of this program, the Wheeling Park Commission provides more free or reduced-fee programs of any park system its size in the country.
Beautification of the Parks
Bissonette Gardens are a re-creation of the many gardens designed by Mr. Oglebay in the early 1900s. Visitors are enticed to wander on red brick paths through the ever-changing flower displays, hanging baskets, and majestic trees. These lovely sites are made even more memorable by the addition of soft landscape lighting and water displays. From propagating specimen plants, to general weeding and watering, the high quality maintenance of the gardens is never ending.
America’s Future Trees fund is a vote of confidence for the future of Oglebay and Wheeling Park. Much of the parks’ beauty is in the sweeping vistas of trees and landscape features- the result of detailed master plans developed years ago. Through the history of the parks, more than 500,000 trees were planted by volunteers. Today, the Wheeling Park Commission manages hundreds of acres of forests, thousands of landscape trees that enhance the recreational facilities, and the Wigginton Arboretum. Originally started through generous gifts by Mr. Oglebay’s grandson, Courtney Burton, contributions to America’s Future Trees provides matching funds for planting, planning, and management of forest resources to ensure future generations receive the benefits of the trees planted today.
Become a Sponsor
Because of the diversity in facilities and programs, corporate partnerships come in all shapes and sizes. Your company can help to improve the community’s health, wellness, and sustainability while benefiting the facilities, programs, and special events at Oglebay and Wheeling Park and thereby improving the quality of life for all in the Ohio Valley. With Oglebay’s rich tradition of excellence and the over 3 million annual visitors, your brand has the potential to reach millions.
The many naming opportunities for specific facilities within the parks allow for a more permanent way to link your business with the parks and leave a legacy for future generations.
Because of you
