Students take trip to Oglebay for lights

On Dec. 1, Waynesburg University kicked off its Christmas season festivities with “WU Light Up Night,” as the tree was lit outside of Roberts Chapel in a ceremony involving President Douglas G. Lee, among other faculty members and Student Senate members.
The next activity, hosted by the Student Activities Board, was a trip to the Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia for the resort’s annual Festival of Lights event.
In a trip that was described to be sold out by trip-goer and junior John Wicker, students of Waynesburg huddled in vans and took to the road to go through the holiday lights display.
“Oglebay is normally a heavy golf resort and they do other things as well,” said Wicker. “It was interesting. We actually just stayed in the vans, driving around seeing all the different characters and displays they had.”
According to the Oglebay Resort website, the lights event has been run since 1985 and lights envelope a 300-acre area, with a drive-through road spanning almost six miles.
For Wicker, six miles of Christmas lights made for a new and awesome experience.
“It wasn’t just the actual lights display that was cool either,” said Wicker. “The way the area there is allowed some back-country and more rural roads to have some interesting scenes as well.”
Wicker also said it is events like this that begin new traditions, and talking about the Waynesburg Light Up Night, he hopes both become Waynesburg University traditions when the holiday season rolls around each year.
The Oglebay trip cost just $5 to students, a fee Wicker said was well worth it for the lights display alone, not even counting the fact that the group ate at an “All You Can Eat” Chinese buffet during the trip.
“I think we won on that one,” said Wicker. “Paying five bucks and seeing the display and getting to go to the Chinese buffet was well worth it.”
The trip to the Festival of Lights isn’t the only one that can bring memories and tradition for students. Waynesburg University’s Student Activities Board, according to Wicker, is always planning these kinds of events, and the junior believes more students should “buy-in” to that fact and be more involved with campus events.
“I think people are missing out on a lot of fun opportunities,” said Wicker. “Even if they don’t think the actual event is fun, honestly a lot of it is just going out and trying new things and maybe taking a friend or two and creating experiences like that. You make memories too. And of course, you have fun because you’re not spending a lot of money either.”
“It’s just another tradition that can be formed here,” said Wicker. “The recent lighting up of the tree should be one and of course this Oglebay trip can be one. It’s just one more addition to the memories made here at Waynesburg.”
Now the students at Waynesburg University have a couple of new traditions they can take part in as the holiday season comes around each year.