What’s Next, Wood County, one of many What’s Next, West Virginia community events, will be occurring on Tuesday, June 2^nd, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the WVU Parkersburg Culinary Academy (707 Market Street) in downtown Parkersburg. This event is the culmination of community involvement workshops that have been occurring all over Wood County since the beginning of the year. This is your chance to add your voice to the conversation about the direction of Wood County, and explore solutions to shared concerns. What’s Next, Wood County, will begin by exploring the themes that have emerged from the previous conversations. Excitement has been brewing over the collective solutions that have emerged in these previous meetings, and now we, as residents of Wood County, and the Mid-Ohio Valley, have an opportunity to work together to create real change.

Volunteer organizers Jean Ambrose and Kathleen Roedersheimer have been working tirelessly on this project for the past year, in conjunction with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life. Through hard work and dedication a steering team of members of the community have come together to aid their efforts and establish the building blocks of the initial conversations. Initial test meetings were held at WVU Parkersburg in November of 2014. These meetings were well attended by students, staff and local residents. One of the big themes to emerge from these meetings was the need to utilize the new WPKM college radio station, tuned to 96.3, as a platform for local journalism and broadcast. The support was ecstatic, the objectives were achievable, the outcomes have been immense, but the work continues.

After some additional refinement, the What’s Next show hit the road! Community meetings have taken place throughout Wood County, and the support has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Groups in Deerwalk, Lubeck, Vienna, Parkersburg, Williamstown and Mineral Wells have met and discussed a wide range of issues. Everything is on the table when it comes to a What’s Next meeting. Health outcomes for residents, check. Environmental concerns regarding new economic development, check. Youth engagement, check. Small business support, check. Finding something fun to do on a Friday night, check. The coolest part of this conversation has been the honesty, not only in the content of the conversation, but in the interaction between participants.

Now to go a little wonky, a conversation such as What’s Next, Wood County, isn’t exactly a new concept, and the outcomes are universally recognized as being positive for everyone involved, and the broader community. Academics have been talking about communication as a method for education and interaction, for a long time. Shoot, all we know of Socrates is from his conversations with Plato. The current philosopher du jour of conversation as a means of action is without a doubt, Jürgen Habermas. Many have made a career in trying to out-do his theories of communicative action, the idea that people can meet up, talk to one other, and then produce some agreed upon outcome. Habermas has this idea, that our society encourages people to get together in social spaces, think The Coffee Bar, Marietta Brewing Company, the NET, even a park, and talk about issues that are important to our individual selves. After we talk, we do something, anything, related to achieving some outcome based on that conversation. This is the essence of What’s Next, Wood County.

The event will be occurring in the renovated WVU Parkersburg Culinary Arts Center, at 707 Market Street. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served with additional soft refreshments, prior to the actual meeting. The space will be laid out to encourage you to relax and talk to other participants. We want you to enjoy this event, to make new friends, and to think of new things to do in the community. When the night is over, we want you to go out and in the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “Get action. Do things; be sane, don’t fritter away your time; create, act, take a place wherever you are and be somebody; get action.” This meeting is an opportunity to discuss concerns and become engaged in organic solution-based organizations.

After June 2^nd What’s Next, Wood County doesn’t end, this is when the effort really begins. Groups formed at the event may not have all the answers to create their desired outcomes immediately, but with the assistance of non-profit, and business supporters who will be in attendance, a strong base will enable action going forward. While the conversation will be of a more Wild and Wonderful perspective, everyone in the Mid-Ohio Valley is encouraged to attend. The Ohio River may form a political boundary, but there are no walls around Wood County. So please, stop by the WVU Parkersburg Culinary Arts Center on June 2^nd at 6 p.m. for a night of positive ideas and community based action.

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Friday, May 15^th, 2015 is Bike to Work Day, a centerpiece of activity for National Bike Month (the month of May). Bike to Work Day is an opportunity for people to change their transportation habits and interact with their community in a different way. This year, the City of Parkersburg in conjunction with Highmark West Virginia will be providing riders with a unique Bike to Work Day experience. At 7:00 a.m., riders will meet at the City Park and travel to the Highmark building located in downtown Parkersburg. Highmark has been gracious enough to offer a light breakfast for all riders between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.

The morning ride will use the Crosstown Connector and Little Kanawha Connector trails. These trail systems are close to completion, with additional work being completed on the Little Kanawha Connector in the near future and the Crosstown Connector’s South Parkersburg route being finalized this year. Both of these trails are the major bicycle corridors for the City of Parkersburg, and have other planned connections to trail systems in the State of West Virginia, as well as national trail networks.

But wait! There’s more! That evening, a downtown bicycle ride is planned to leave from the Point Park Marketplace at 6:00 p.m. This ride should take under an hour and is a family friendly ride. We will be traveling on low-speed active roads, so helmets and lights for all riders are strongly encouraged. The route for this ride will include the Historic Trail and Juliana Loop, which is a fancy way of saying going up Avery Street, around the Juliana Historic District and coming back down Market Street. Once we get back to the Point Park Marketplace, riders are free to enjoy the festivities at the Marketplace which will be opened for an additional hour that evening.

Let’s be real though, you don’t have to be riding to work to take part in this event. The League of American Bicyclists, the people behind Bike to Work Day since 1956, encourages everyone to use bicycles as a transit choice. Both events are open to everyone, and even if you can’t make it out for the group rides, please come out to downtown in the morning or the Farmer’s Market in the evening. There is going to be a party, and you’re invited!

On a deeper level, riding a bike has so many benefits in regards to health, cost, environment, safety, and appreciation for the community. It just makes sense to get out of the car every once and a while. From my own experience, getting back on the saddle after a twenty year hiatus changed my view of how people interact with the world around them and also helped me get rid of a few pounds in the process. When you are in a car, you can feel the existing potholes, but you may miss the brick-lined backdrop; you may see the blur of a neighborhood, but you will miss the view of a planted garden and shaded street. Seriously, your selfies look better when you aren’t in a car.

Throughout the Mid-Ohio Valley, communities are planning for increased bicycle transit and trails. National trails are planned to connect all of the cities in the MOV to one another and to other destinations in the United States. Ohio River trail connections will allow riders to cruise from Point Park to the Vienna Mall and over to Marietta. Everyone can appreciate the economic impact that these corridors will produce while providing countless hours of low cost recreational opportunities for local residents.

Public organizations like the Parkersburg Bicycle Advisory Board in Parkersburg, the Mayor’s Alternative Transportation Advisory Committee in Marietta, The Wood County Alternative Transportation Council, and efforts by the cities of Belpre, North Hills, Vienna, and Williamstown, are helping to advance transportation choice in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Not to be outdone, corporate partners and volunteer organizations such as the local Chambers of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureaus, and Parkersburg Bicycle, Lapping the Couch Adventures, and Marietta Adventure Company, provide opportunities for everyone to ride a bike today and ensure more people will be able to ride a bike tomorrow.

So, tell your friends, tell your family, tell your boss: You’re riding your bike to work on Friday, May 15^th, and they should too.

For more information related to Bike to Work Day and the League of American Bicyclists, check out their website.

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