New Cumberland residents gathered at the Christian Church to induct the two newest members of the Towns Hall of Fame: Richard John Zumer was inducted as the living member and the late William E. Demos as the deceased member for their service to the community.
Sunday marked the 34th anniversary of the annual induction which paused one year due to COVID. Started in 1991 by Robert Stanley, who did the framework for the event to receive his Eagle Scout award. Criteria for consideration includes 1)the particular part the nominee played in the community, religious, civic service, business, or educational role; 2) The length of service to the community; and 3) the moral integrity of each nominee.
RICHARD JOHN ZUMER
Rich Zumer is the son of John and Mary Zumer and a brother to Ronald Zumer and Mary Ann (Zumer) Reese. He is a life-long resident of New Cumberland and was a member of the first graduating class of Oak Glen High School in 1964. He was also a member of the first track team.
Rich attended WVU and West Liberty University. He graduated from Steubenville College and played basketball as a two-year starter averaging 15 pts. a game for the two-year period. He retired from Starvaggi where he worked for 35 years for the concrete division and he was a plant supervisor for 27 years.
A member of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Rich served as youth director and was a lector and commentator for church services.
Rich served as a Councilman for the City of New Cumberland and was a member of the Street Committee and the Water Board for several years. He was also active in the New Cumberland Lions Club for over 40 years.
A member of the Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan Club, Rich was involved with the New Cumberland Little as aa player and as a manager winning the championship as a coach. He served three terms as Commissioner of New Cumberland Little League. He also coached Babe Ruth Baseball for many years. He was the organizer and the director of the senior basketball league at the “C” House. For over fifty years he directed and mentored the youth of the community at the “C” House.
Rich coached and also played softball for nearly 30 years for many teams from New Cumberland. He won division titles in the Weirton Softball league in 1971-72. The 1971 team won the the championship series defeating a team that was previously undefeated.
He was a member 0f the 1977 New Cumberland team that won the northern district championship advancing to the State touney in Charleston, becoming the first team from the area to qualify for the state tournament. He was selected to the all star team from the Weirton league in 1977 that defeated Steubenville for the championship.
He was selected to the all star team from the Weirton league in 1977 that defeated Steubenville for the Championship.
Rich participated in the Tri State Steelmark Olympics held in Weirton sponsored by the Weirton Steel Corporation and finished third in men’s tennis doubles. He was also a member of the NC Softball team that took third place in the Olympics.
WILLIAM E. DEMOS
The late Bill Demos was born Feb.15, 1892 in Maikri, Turkey, son of the late Manuel and Despina Demos. He came to the United States in 1924 and lived in Wellsburg, WV for one year. In 1925, Bill came to Weirton and was associated with Weir Cove Enterprises under the late N.G. Anas.
Bill moved to New Cumberland in 1938 where he was the manager/owner of the Manas Theater on South Chester St. Bill and his wife, Nellie, were permanent fixtures at the theater and the snack bar.
Bill was active in the community and civic organizations. He was a member of the IOOF-Independent Order of the Odd Fellows. Bill and Nellie held an annual Christmas party for children at the movie theater.
He was a member of All Saints Greek Orthodox Church in Weirton. Bill’s wife, Nellie, passed away in 1983 and was buried beside her husband in Paris, PA. Surviving relatives are nephews Manuel and Peter Demos and a great nephew Timothy Demos of Wintersville.
Reflections from Dave Andrews who worked at the theatre. “He always had a little cigar hanging out of his mouth. My brother, John, remembers going house to house passing out flyers about the movies. At first, admission to the theatre was .25 cents which included a little bag of popcorn.” Dave said he worked for Bill during his teen years running the projector twice a day. “At the end of the week I got ten one dollar bills.”
“Another job I did for Bill was separating pop bottles for different companies. That took a couple of hours. Bill would give me a pop, hot dog and pizza,” Dave recalls.
The theatre was a hang out for teens where they could buy pop, candy bars, pizza and chips. Bill sold four square pieces of pizza for .60 cents. There were a couple of five and ten cent pinball machines to play. Bill was good to the youth of the community.
