It was disappointing to hear the news last week that, after 44 years, the Viennese Ball would be ending. It had been a wonderful feature of Wheeling social life for so long.

Yet, given the reasons, it’s understandable. The ball, a fundraiser for the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, had just become to expensive to put on and still serve its mission of supporting the WSO.

“After last year, we knew things either had to change or we couldn’t go forward,” Ball Committee Chair Paula McClure said. “And it’s the rising cost of just about everything — whether it’s flowers or whether it’s the venues or whether it’s candles.

“And to go forward, to be fiscally responsible and successful and leaving it at the same level where we were, we just couldn’t do it,” she added.

Those across-the-board rising co

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