Wheeling Intelligencer
Civic Program, Demonstration At Railroad Depot Precedes Motorcade Through City Tuesday Noon
Hundreds Join In Welcome For Metropolitan Auditions Winner
May 1, 1940
The B. &. O. "Steber Special" steamed triumphantly into the Wheeling depot Tuesday noon amid band music, the cheers of Warwood high school students and the applause of hundreds of admirers of Eleanor Steber, Warwood girl, now a member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, who returns to Wheeling this week from New York for two "homecoming" concerts. Miss Steber is the winner of the Metropolitan auditions for the current season, the announcement of her selection, having been made at an Easter Sunday broadcast.
Miss Steber's arrival from the East was marked by a civic welcome which preceded a parade led by the Warwood High School band. The welcoming addresses were broadcast.
The charming Miss Steber and the members of her party descended to the station platform from their special car to be greeted by the Citizens' Committee, which has completed all arrangements for the homecoming recital and "Steber Day" on Wednesday, and representatives of Wheeling's civic and musical organizations.
Aboard the special train were Edwin Lee Bilby, the singer's husband: James Quillian, her accompanist, and Baltimore & Ohio Railroad officials, J. D. Beltz, general superintendent, and Paul Faustman, transportation assistant, both of Pittsburgh, Pa.
The parents of the youthful artist, Mr. and Mrs. William C. Steber of Warwood, and members of the general civic committee of which George Kossuth is chairman, had boarded the train at Twenty- fourth street.
A. R. Carver, superintendent of the Wheeling Division of the Baltimore & Ohio, presented the charming singer with a huge bouquet of American Beauty roses at a brief ceremony held at the Twenty- fourth street stop. Carroll Evens, manager of the Ohio Valley Board of Trade, presented Miss Steber with a sheaf of Talisman snapdragons during the course of his brief welcoming address.
Members of the Citizens' committee which met the train there also, included, among others, Mrs. Flora Williams, Miss Ethel Check, Miss Idabel Wagener, Mrs. Laura Kasley Brooks, Miss Dorothy Ann Crow, Wheeling vocalist and soloist on the Wheeling Steel broadcasts; Julian Ulrich, Milton Gutman, L. Budd Haberstick, president of The Little Theatre of Wheeling: R. John T. Thornton, and Ernest Chapman of the B. &. O.
Officially welcoming Miss Steber on behalf of the city of Wheeling, upon her arrival at the station was Mayor John Mathison, who also gave her a handsome bouquet. Miss Steber graciously responded to the mayor's welcome expressing her appreciation of the enthusiastic reception accorded her by the community at large and her own alma mater, Warwood high school.
Representatives of various civic organizations which extended congratulatory greetings to Miss Steber at the station included Mrs. J. P. McHenry, speaking for the women's clubs of the community: Professor L. C. Bonar of Warwood high school: Henry Schrader, president of the Wheeling Rotary club, and John Tucker, also of the Rotary club: James Paisley, speaking for the Wheeling Kiwanis and Mr. Evans of the Ohio Valley Board of Trade.
At the conclusion of the brief speaking program, Miss Steber and her party were escorted to waiting automobiles. City officials and members of the reception committee followed in other cars, the motorcade being escorted through the city led by the motorcycle police and the Warwood high school band.
The Citizens' committee, which staged Tuesday's civic celebration is composed of George Kossuth, chairman: Rotary, John O. Tucker: Kiwanis, James R. Paisley: Lions, R. Edward Bowie: Civitan, William Zimmerman: Reserve Officers association, Henry Schrader: Exchange club, Frank Speidel: Live Wire group, Wilmot L. Harris: Red Fez, Albert W. Laas: Music Education association, Edwin M. Steckel: Oglebay Institute, Frank Sanders: Pilot club, Miss Idabel Wagner: Woman's club of Wheeling, Mrs. George Zeppos: B. &. P. Woman's club, Mrs. Gladys W. Baker: Quota club, Miss Dale Ross: Woman's club of Warwood, Mrs. J. P. McHenry: Junior Women's club of Warwood, Mrs. Paul R. Williams: Junior Woman's club of Wheeling, Miss Alice Hauseman: Warwood Boosters, H. E. Brown: Warwood high school, L. C. Bonar: Martins Ferry, Mrs. Jessie Wolf Lipphardt: Bellaire, Roy Koller: Moundsville, Mrs. William Hicks: Eighth Ward Improvement association, Carl Bowers and John Gast.
Today is "Steber Day" by proclamation of Mayor Mathison. The civic celebration inaugurated Tuesday will be climaxed tonight by the first of two concert programs to be given by Miss Steber. The premier performance is to take place in the Virginia theatre. The singer will repeat the same program the following evening, singing in Madison auditorium on the Island.
Governor Homer A. Holt and Mrs. Holt, will arrive in the city today, by plane, from Charleston. Governor and Mrs. Holt will be the house guests of Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Paull, sr., of Woodsdale, during their stay in the city. The governor and his party will occupy a special box with their hosts at the concert this evening. Governor Holt will be introduced to the assemblage by Mr. Kossuth. Mr. Mathison, who will in turn present the young artist of the evening.
Miss Steber's program tonight will be as follows:
Aria Porgi, amor, from "Le Nozze di Figaro," Mozart; aria Non so piu cosa son, from "Le Nozze di Figaro," Mozart; recitative and Aria Ernani, involami, from "Ernani," Verdi.
Standee, Schubert; We hat dies liedlein erdacht, Mahler; Der bescheidene Schafer, Marx; Hat dich die liebe beruhrt, Marx.
Aria Depuis le jour, from "Louise," Charpentier.
Intermission
Mandoline, Debussy; Chanson, triste, Duparc; LeMoulin, Pierne; Carnaval, Fourdrain.
At the Well, Hageman; To the Children, Rachmaninoff; Shadows, Foote; The Trees Have Grown So, Burleigh; Fulfillment, Warren.